Taikyuu Shorts
by Anime Master ZERO
Summary: A collection of short stories about the romantic relationship between Taiki and Yuu. Posted in no particular order, but I do try to keep some sort of continuity/timeline.
1. Makeover

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

While chatting with my friend cherryblossom51, we come up with a lot of Taikyuu ideas. Of course, this sparks the desire to write them down. This is where they end up.

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><p><strong>MAKEOVER<strong>

To many, the luxury penthouse apartment was a paradise. To the Amano children, however, this was just everyday life. Nene was tidying up around the house while her brother Yuu sat on the couch reading a book. Nearly a whole year had passed since the defeat of Bagramon and life had taken up a slower pace. Nene looked over at her brother after putting a stack of books back on the shelf. In that time since, he had grown very tall in such a short time. It must have been all the time he spent playing basketball with Taiki by the park combined with his incoming puberty that sparked his growth spurt. Indeed it seemed he was spenting more and more time with the goggle boy he had met in that other world although they hadn't had any time together for the past two months since Taiki had left on a family vacation to America. They were to be due back before school started, though. That suddenly got Nene thinking.

"Yuu, shouldn't you be getting ready for school? You start tomrrow, after all," she said, breaking the silence.

"I'm okay, Nee-san," Yuu answered as he turned a page, "But I can't say that I'm not excited."

Nene nodded in agreement. "It's your first day of middle school. Oh, that reminds me! I never asked which school you registered for."

"Oh, I'm going to Taiki-san's school!" Yuu said, "That's why I'm excited."

_Oh really?_ Nene thought. She thought back to the events of the Digital World and everything that had happened since then. She had noticed it right off the bat, but Yuu was still completely oblivious. Perhaps it was time to take matters into her own hands.

"Hey, Yuu..." Nene said slyly as she approached her brother from behind and lifted the book from his hands. "How about we get you ready for tomorrow?"

"Eh?" Yuu blinked and looked up at his older sister. "W-w-w-w-what do you mean?" he stammered nervously.

Nene just giggled as she smiled, causing him to get even more nervous. She grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him off his feet.

"MAKEOVER!"

"Eh? Eh? EHHH?"

o o o

"Nee-san! I don't want a makeover!" The first place Yuu had found himself dragged to by the collar of his shirt was a beauty spa. It was clear that his sister had been here many times because the staff greeted her with such outward friendliness and openness.

"Hi, Nene-chan!" the woman at the desk said cheerfully, "What brings you in today? Manicure? Facial? Hair?"

"Actually, I'm here for my little brother," Nene answered nudging the boy in question.

"Wait a second, Nee-san!" Yuu protested.

"Oh, he's so adorable!" The lady leaned over the desk and just started fawning over him.

"He's starting middle school tomorrow and I thought I should get him a new look. You know, something that can get 'attention'," Nene explained.

"I'm sure we can work something out." The lady came around the desk and took Yuu by the hand. "Come on in! Oh girls! We got a little boy ready for a brand new look!" The other stylists instantly turned their heads. It was very rare that they got a boy in.

"Wait, wait, wait!" But it was too late. Yuu had already been pulled in and seated in a chair in front of a mirror. Several women came around him and started to inspect him.

"Now what shall we do girls?" the head stylist asked.

"Well first we totally need to do something about this hair," one answered as she flipped up the bottom of Yuu's blond locks.

"What's wrong with my hair?" the boy complained.

"I think it needs more body. Don't you agree girls?" Sounds of agreement could be heard among the stylists.

"Oh and his bangs? Totally gotta fix the color!"

"What's wrong with my bangs?" Yuu whined once more, trying to cover his hair with his hands. He was starting to get scared now.

"Those'll darken naturally as he gets older," a stylist pointed out.

"We can't wait that long," another said, "Dye job!"

"Dye job!" the others agreed.

"Nee-san, help me!" But Yuu's cries went unheard as he saw his sister setting up her own treatment for the day. Yuu's hand dropped and he slumped back.

"Well girls, let's get started!" Yuu quickly found himself covered up with a barber's cape and felt the chair rising.

First there was the wash. Yuu was taken to the sinks where his hair was wetted, lathered, rinsed, and conditioned. After he was brought back, his hair was towel dried and then combed. From there the stylists got to work. During his hair wash, one of them had mixed up a blond hair color and was now applying it to his bangs with a brush. Yuu found himself keeping his eyes closed for fear of the brush getting into his eyes. Meanwhile another one was putting the rest of his hair in curlers while also applying some sort of liquid solution. Yuu felt very silly. He was a boy and this was the sort of thing girls did. He wished he could see what was going on. After all, if he had to be subject to this he should at least know what happening.

After a tedious hour passed, he was finally allowed to move only to find himself sitting underneath a hair dryer. He asked how long he was going to be there, but all he was told was "until it's time." Yuu looked around for his sister but could find no sign of her. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. It wasn't long before he found himself completely and utterly bored. He looked around for something to do being careful not to move around too much, but all he could see was a basket next to his chair filled with women's magazines. Reaching down, he grabbed the first one he could get his fingers on and brought it up. It was an issue of _Cosmopolitan_ from four months ago. He sighed. At least it was something to read. He opened the cover and started glazing over the articles.

Sometime later, a stylist approached Yuu and turned off the hair dryer. "Okay, Yuu. All done here." But he didn't move. Yuu was completely absorbed in the magazine. "Um, Yuu?" Nene approached. "Nene-chan, your brother can't seem to hear me." Nene just giggled when she looked at her brother and saw what he was reading.

"I think he's just on the road to self-discovery." She proceeded to prod Yuu with her finger until the younger boy looked up.

"Nee-san?"

"Come on, Yuu. They're waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" Yuu suddenly remembered the curlers and the foil in his hair. "Ohhh." A moment later he had everything on his head removed and he went through another wash. Once his hair was dry once again, he reached up to feel it. It felt...different. The back was definitely curlier now.

"Are we done here, Nee-san?" Yuu asked.

"Nope! We're just getting started," answered Nene. Her brother groaned, but then looked down at the magazine he was still holding. He had been in the middle of an interesting article and felt compelled to finish reading it. He looked up at his sister.

"What's next?"

For the rest of the day at the spa, Yuu was subjected to a facial, a manicure, and a pedicure. He was almost a teenager and the stylists agreed that his face would need the treatment for the future. As for his nails, they simply felt the need to work on them. He enjoyed the soothing massage he felt on his face, but then a quick clense followed by a facial mask came after. It was the most unusual feeling Yuu had ever had felt in his life. However it did give him time to keep reading his magazine. After that he went over to the nail tables for his manicure. First he was asked to place his hands in a container of liquid parafin. After he brought his hands out they were covered up and placed inside a pair of thumbless mittens to keep warm. After fifteen minutes had passed, they removed them and proceeded to file and buff his nails. Once his manicure was done, he moved onto his pedicure. Just as he had done with his hands, he was now being asked to place his feet in the parafin bath and then given a pair of slippers to wear to keep them warm. Once the parafin had been removed, he sat in an elevated chair and watched as the woman placed cotton in between his toes. As she worked, Yuu had picked up another copy of _Cosmopolitan_ and read through it with great interest. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed another woman walking toward the back of the salon with a large bowl in her hands.

"Excuse me? What's in that bowl?" he asked.

"Oh, that's for waxing," answered the woman working on his toenails.

"Waxing?" Yuu was curious.

"It's a hair removal technique. Wax is applied to the skin and then later torn off, taking the hair right out of their pores." The boy winced. That sounded painful!

After what had seemed like an eternity, Yuu was finally done. His nails felt and looked amazing. He touched his face and was astounded by how soft and smooth the skin felt. But what really impressed him was what they had done to his hair. His bangs now matched the rest of his blond locks and the back curled upward, giving his hair a more voluminous look.

"Like it, Yuu?" asked Nene.

"I love it!" Yuu squealed with delight as they left.

"Come back again soon, Nene-chan! Yuu-chan!" the receptionist called after them.

"This is great, Nee-san! Thanks so much!" Yuu was happy and Nene was delighted. "You were right. This whole makeover thing was a great idea!"

"Oh we're not done with the makeover yet," Nene said mischeviously. Yuu looked up at his sister with confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"To the mall!"

o o o

At the mall, Yuu was being dragged all over by his sister to different clothing stores. "Your hair and nails are only part of your new look," she explained as she ran through racks upon racks of clothes. "What you also need...is a new wardrobe!"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" asked Yuu. He looked down at himself. He was wearing a grey dress shirt, purple plaid shorts, tall white socks, black loafers, suspenders, and a dark red tie.

"That was cute back in elementary school. But now, you need something new," answered Nene.

"New like how?" Yuu's answer came as Nene started piling clothes into his arms.

"Go try these on." The boy sighed. It was obvious now that he had no way of winning this argument.

A few minutes later, Yuu was in the men's fitting room while Nene sat on a chair right outside his door. "Come on, Yuu! Let me see!" She heard a click and the door swung in as Yuu came out.

"How do I look?" he asked. Nene looked him over. He was dressed in a pair of khaki slacks, a blue dress shirt, and a matching blue cardigan.

"That's...totally not the look for you," Nene answered, "Come on. We're going to another store!"

"What?"

At the next store, Yuu was dressing himself in jeans and hoodies but it was a no-go; baggy clothes just were not his style. The next store provided him with shorts, T-shirts, and tank tops, but once again not fitting. Yuu did look in the window of a formalwear store, but Nene dragged him away from it rather quickly.

"Yuu, stay here for a minute," Nene said after an hour of being in the mall, "I'm just gonna duck into this store here." And with that she disappeared leaving Yuu all alone. The boy sighed and looked around. He was in the main atrium where some sort of event was being held. He looked over and realized that it was a fashion show. As he watched from his spot by the store, a man suddenly came forward and grabbed his wrist.

"There you are!" he said before dragging Yuu away.

"H-hey, wait! Where are you taking me? Let me go!" Yuu was quickly thrust through a black curtain into a room filled with clothes on racks.

"Oh excellent! There you are! Good timing. Quick, get changed! You're on in five minutes!" A woman grabbed an outfit from a rack and thrust it into Yuu's arms.

"Wait a second! What's going on here?" the boy demanded.

"Isn't it obvious, silly? The fashion show!"

"The fashion...?" Yuu suddenly realized what was going on. "You think I'm a model?"

"Let's go! Chop chop!"

A few minutes later, Nene came out of the store with two shopping bags in her hands. "I'm back, Yuu!" However, Yuu was nowhere to be seen. She looked around. Now where could that little brother of hers have gone?

Her answer came as a new spotlight shined down on the entrance of the fashion show's runway and a familiar blond boy stepped out. Nene blinked twice. "Yuu?" Yuu was walking along the runway wearing a pair of skinny leg-forming pants and a button-front shirt with a pair of fancy yellow shoes. He had a jacket slung over his shoulder with his hand to accentuate the look.

o o o

"Akari, slow down!" A despaired-looking Taiki Kudou was being dragged around the mall by his wrist by none other than his childhood friend Akari Hinomoto. His family had returned from vacation only two days ago and even though he wanted to call Yuu and let him know that he had come back, he was quickly swamped with preparing for school.

"If I slowed down, you'd be late," she said. It was obvious she had a destination set and she wouldn't rest until Taiki got there.

"But at least let me stop by the sports store first!" Taiki protested.

"Oh no! You're not getting out of this one, Taiki!"

"Akari!"

As they made their way through the mall, they passed the atrium and the fashion show that was going on. Taiki glanced toward the show and saw a young blond boy walking down the runway. He blinked several times. "Is that... Is that...Yuu?" A small blush crept onto his face.

Suddenly he felt another tug on his arm. "Hurry up, Taiki, or you'll be late for your haircut!" Taiki nodded at her in acknowledgement and looked back toward the runway. The blond boy had disappeared. But he still could not get the image out of his head.

"Could it really have been...?" He shook his head. "Nah, it couldn't have been."

o o o

It didn't take long for Yuu to escape the fashion show. After that first walk it was clear that he had been mistaken for somebody else and he quickly returned to his sister. "I'm so sorry, Nee-san!" he apologized, "It's just that they thought I was one of their models and then..." Nene quickly silenced him with a finger on his lips.

"I saw the whole thing," she said, "And I've got the perfect look for you! Come on!" Shifting her bags into one hand, she grabbed Yuu's wrist with the other and pulled him along.

o o o

The chime sounded the next morning and students walked in through the front gates. The first day of school of the new year had started. Yuu walked in with his backpack. He was dressed in white leg-fitting skinnies, a yellow button-front shirt, and yellow and green shoes. He had to admit, the clothes suited him well especially with his new hairstyle. He went inside and walked up to the roster to find which class he was in. Once he found it, he nodded to himself once he memorized it and proceeded to head toward his new classroom only to bump into someone.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" he quickly apologized, but then he looked up at who it was and gasped. "T-Taiki-san!" Yuu looked up at the brunet. Taiki had gotten his hair cut. It was no longer as shaggy as it used to be; the back had been cut short and the top had also been shorted so now it stuck straight up. He was wearing new clothes: a red and white T-shirt, grey shorts, maroon high-top sneaker, red and blue sweatbands, and a shiny new pair of goggles.

Taiki looked down at the blond boy and a puzzled look appeared on his face. Then the voice that had said his name registered. "Yuu?" He then suddenly remembered that model he had seen at the mall's fashion show the day before. "Yuu, is that you?"

"Taiki-san!" Yuu wrapped his arms around Taiki, causing the other boy to blush.

"Eh? Yuu!"

"I'm so happy to see you again!" Yuu cried before letting go.

"Yuu, you look so different now," Taiki said.

"Yeah. Nee-san gave me a makeover. She said it was 'cause it's a new school so I needed a new look." The blond spun around. "What do you think?"

Taiki could feel a small blush coming on. "You look...great."

Yuu giggled. "Thanks, Taiki-san! You look good, too."

"Gee um, thanks," Taiki answered. The two boys looked at each other. They were obviously happy to see one another once again.

"Taiki-san, there's so much I wanna talk to you about," Yuu said excitedly. Taiki couldn't help but smile.

"How about we meet up on the roof at lunch?" he suggested, "We can catch up then." Yuu nodded in agreement.

"Sounds great! I can't wait! Gosh, Taiki-san! It's so good to see you again! It's like..."

"TAIKI-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" The voice was loud and it cut off Yuu and suddenly a blue blur slammed into Taiki, knocking him onto the floor.

"Taiki-san!" Yuu gasped. He looked over at the thing that had just rammed into his sempai. It was a boy the same age as Yuu wearing a blue V-neck T-shirt with images of the sun, moon, and a star printed on it. His hair was brown save for a large tuft in the front which was bright red. What was more, however, was that this boy also wore a pair of goggles.

"OH MY GOD! It's really you!" The boy was clearly hyperactive. As Taiki got back to his feet, the boy stepped back and started bouncing excitedly on the spot.

"Who... Who are you?" asked Taiki.

"I'm Tagiru Akashi! I'm your biggest fan!"

"I... I have fans?" Taiki was confused.

"You're my idol, Taiki-san! I wanna be just like you! No, I wanna surpass you!"

"Surpass me?"

Tagiru was pumped as he snorted air out of his nostrils. "Taiki-san! Please let me spend time with you! Hey, I know! Let's meet up at lunch on the roof! We can totally get to know each other then!"

"Well, I..." Taiki began but he was immediately cut off.

"Oh, I gotta run! Bye!" And with that, Tagiru ran off. Taiki looked over at Yuu and looked at him apolegetically.

"Sorry, Yuu."

"No problem, Taiki-san. We can always catch up some other time," Yuu answered, visibly disappointed. He was hoping he could get some one-on-one time with Taiki and then just like that some random kid showed up and invited himself to their rooftop lunch hour.

The bell suddenly sounded and Taiki sighed. "I gotta get to class," he said, "See you at lunch, Yuu."

Yuu waved at him as he left. "Bye, Taiki-san." Once the goggle boy was out of sight, Yuu went upstairs to the second floor and entered his classroom. He found an available desk and sat down, placing his backpack beside him. He groaned as he put his elbows on the desktop and his head between his hands.

"Oh hey, you were with Taiki-san, weren't you?" Yuu froze. He recognized that voice. He turned his head slowly and saw Tagiru sitting next to him.

"You're Taiki-san's friend, right? I'm Tagiru Akashi!"

"Yuu... Yuu Amano..."

"Yuu? That's a funny name! Well, nice to meetcha! Hey, let's hang out sometime!"

Yuu just sighed. "Yeah, whatever." He sat up in his chair and took out his pencil case as the teacher came in and class began.

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><p>This has been my first drabble and I can assure you there are many more to come!<p>

For the record, I'll be writing these as I feel like it. I have consistent work to do on _Yu-Gi-Oh! GNext_, so anything I write for this will be on a whim.


	2. Movie Night

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

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><p><strong>MOVIE NIGHT<strong>

It was Saturday. Since Sunday would follow, that meant no school. So Taiki thought about inviting some friends over for a movie night. He had invited Yuu and Tagiru over during lunch and recommended that they each bring over one movie. Both boys had agreed to it and would be there after dinner. That gave Taiki plenty of time to go out and buy snacks for their movie night. Right after school, he made a stop at the corner store at the end of the block on his way home. He picked up potato chips, popcorn, candy, soft drinks, and even a medium sized tub of strawberry banana ice cream. It wasn't really his favorite but he did like it. He wasn't too sure of Tagiru, but Yuu loved it for sure.

After dinner, Taiki got to work on setting everything up. He poured the chips into bowls and set them out on the coffee table. His mom made sure to bring out the coasters for the drinks. Taiki waited patiently for the popcorn to pop in the microwave before he poured them all into a large bowl and added some extra butter.

About a half-hour later, the doorbell rang and Taiki went to answer it. Yuu was standing there holding a shopping bag in one hand and was using his other one to hold onto the overnight bag he had packed. Taiki smiled. He was happy to see Yuu and it seemed that the other boy was happy to see him.

"Hi Taiki-san."

"Hi Yuu," Taiki responded with a smile. Yuu stepped inside and removed his shoes. He slipped his feet into a pair of yellow slippers provided for him and came inside.

"I'm glad you came."

"Well, you _did_ invite me."

"Yeah... That's true." Taiki turned his head to hide the blush that had begun to creep up on his face. "So uh, what movie did you bring?"

"Only my favorite movie of all time," Yuu said with a dreamy sigh.

Taiki was intrigued. "What movie is that?"

Yuu looked up at him smiling brightly. "Taiki-san, it's..."

"YAHOO! Movie night!" Tagiru yelled. Yuu groaned at the other boy's loud and sudden entrance.

"Hi Tagiru!" Taiki greeted.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Tagiru cheered as he snorted, "I brought the best movie EVER!"

"And what movie is that?" Yuu inquired.

"Easy! _Meet the Spartans_!" answered Tagiru.

"_Meet the Spartans_? Seriously?"

"It's the greatest movie ever!"

"Is not!"

"What movie did you bring?" asked Tagiru.

"One of the greatest works in Hollywood history," Yuu answered, "_Titanic_."

"Oh please! That movie was so boring," Tagiru scoffed, "Everyone loves a good comedy."

"Tagiru, NOBODY liked _Meet the Spartans,_" Yuu pointed out.

"Oh like anyone liked _Titanic_."

"For your information, _Titanic_ won eleven Academy Awards back in 1998."

"Yeah, that was back then. Movies sucked then."

"Actually, the film industry produced significantly better quality movies back in the nineties due to technology having just recently been introduced on such a large scale. In doing so, it improved the films without forcing the producers to rely on it, unlike the filmmakers of today who rely so heavily on technology that the actors barely have anything to do."

Tagiru said nothing for a good five minutes and the three boys just stood there at the door in silence. Finally he opened his mouth. "I'm not watching a boring chick flick!"

"Oh so that's what this is all about?" Yuu asked incredulously.

"Guys, guys, guys!" Taiki said trying to calm them down. "Look, we came here for a movie night and I said everyone could bring one movie so we're going to watch them all."

Yuu sighed and nodded. "He's right. Like it or not, we're going to watch all the movies."

"Okay, now here's the deal." Taiki looked at his two teammates. "We'll watch Tagiru's movie first..."

"WAHOO!" Tagiru cheered.

"...and get that out of the way," Taiki finished, "Then we'll watch Yuu's movie and then we can move onto mine."

"I guess that works," Yuu conceded.

With the agreement in place, everybody went into the living room and sat down. Tagiru sat himself in Taiki's favorite red chair and Yuu took a spot on the couch. Taiki loaded _Meet the Spartans_ into the DVD player and sat down next to the blond before hitting PLAY. Tagiru claimed the entire bowl of popcorn for himself and propped his legs over an armrest as the film began. Yuu just looked at him with an eye of contempt, but then he suddenly became aware that Taiki was holding a drink out to him. Yuu accepted it and popped the can open before leaning back, not realizing how close he was to the older boy.

Almost as soon as the movie began, Tagiru began laughing. Yuu on the other hand, was quite the opposite. The film was absolutely horrible. He reached for some chips and ate them, hoping he could endure the next hour or so. Beside him Taiki was feeling about the same. He wasn't enjoying the movie either, but he put up with for the sake of Tagiru. Even Gumdramon, inside of the younger Goggle Boy's Xros Loader, couldn't understand his partner's obsession with the film.

Yuu did his best to ignore the film itself and tried to focus his mind on something else. The clock on the wall. The cars passing outside the window. Even a speck of dust that may have been floating over his head was more interesting. He pulled himself up and grabbed some more chips, hoping they could give him something to enjoy. At two points during the film, he got up to use the bathroom hoping that spending some time away from the inane movie could keep him from going completely insane.

After nearly eighty-three minutes, the movie was finally over and Yuu was relieved. Taiki seemed to be equally relieved but he didn't show it as he got up. "That was just... Wow." The older boy was at a loss for words.

"Told ya it was great," Tagiru replied with an enormous grin. For the duration of the entire movie he had somehow managed to devour the entire bowl of popcorn leaving none left for the others.

"I'll go make some more popcorn," Taiki offered as he put the disc back inside its case and closed it, "Yuu, why don't you go on ahead and put your movie in?"

"Sure, Taiki-san." Yuu grabbed his movie from the table and got up. He walked over to the TV and popped the case open. The disc tray was still open, so he placed his DVD inside and closed it. He then set the case on top of the DVD player and returned to the couch but didn't sit down just yet. He let the video roll until the main menu popped up and then looked toward the kitchen. Taiki still wasn't back et, so he decided to pass the time by watching some of the trailers.

"Ugh! Can we just get this over with?" Tagiru complained.

"We endured your movie, Tagiru. Can't you just sit still through mine?" asked Yuu.

"It's BORING!" the boy with two hair colors groaned.

"Have you even seen _Titanic_?" Yuu inquired.

"Like bits of it. Not the whole thing," answered Tagiru.

"Then you haven't actually seen the whole thing."

"It counts."

"No it doesn't."

"Yah, it does."

"Does not."

"Does to."

"Does not."

"Does to."

"Does not."

"Does to."

"Does not."

"Does to."

"Does not."

"Is this a bad time?" Tagiru and Yuu turned and saw Taiki coming back from the kitchen with a freshly made bowl of popcorn.

"Ummm..." Yuu just turned away with a light blush on his face. He couldn't believe Taiki had caught him in the heat of such a childish argument with Tagiru. But the older boy said nothing. Instead he put the popcorn on the coffee table well out of Tagiru's reach, grabbed the remote, highlighted PLAY on the main menu, pressed enter, and sat down on the couch.

"Yuu, aren't you sitting down?" he asked patting the spot next to him.

"Oh. Umm, yeah..." Without really realizing it, Yuu sat down on the very spot Taiki had patted. Tagiru let out a loud yawn and propped his head up with his arm.

"This is gonna be fun," he muttered boredly.

Thirty minutes into the movie, Tagiru had fallen asleep and had begun to snore. Yuu got up to throw a blanket over his head and sat back down next to Taiki. He picked up the bowl of popcorn and leaned back, bringing his legs up onto the couch beside him. It was his favorite posture for watching movies. Though what he didn't notice was how close he was to Taiki.

"Can I have some?" the Goggle Boy whispered. Yuu offered the bowl without looking away from the screen and Taiki took it from him. He grabbed himself a handful and then rested the bowl on his lap. Yuu didn't seem to notice that he was leaning against Taiki, but he was comfortable and that's all that came to his mind as he focused on his favorite movie.

Taiki, on the other hand, noticed it and he felt a warmth inside of him. As he sat there with Yuu leaning against him, he nonchalantly put his arm around the other boy's shoulder. Taiki smiled. Yuu was completely unmoving and he liked how warm he felt. Plus at that distance, the blond's golden locks were just inches from his face and he could smell the intoxicating fragrance of the other boy.

When the movie finally finished, it was already late. The three-hour long movie ended after midnight. As soon as the credits started to roll, Yuu closed his eyes for a moment to rest them and ended up falling asleep. Taiki smiled as he looked down at him as he felt himself nodding off and allowed sleep to take him.

o o o

Taiki's mother came downstairs in her robe half an hour later to find all three boys fast asleep. She walked over quietly and turned off the TV. Tagiru was sprawled awkwardly over the big red chair with the blanket that had been thrown on him earlier now almost completely on the floor. She looked over at the couch and saw her son asleep with Yuu sleeping against him. Taking a blanket off a third chair, she walked over and covered the two boys with it. Yuu grabbed the blanket and snuggled it as he gently nuzzled Taiki in his sleep who, in turn, seemed to put his other arm around him. Mrs. Kudou looked at them and smiled warmly before going back upstairs to bed.

* * *

><p>This has been drabble number two. It's short, but it's a drabble so it's okay. Hope you enjoyed.<p> 


	3. Onsen

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>ONSEN<strong>

Yuu sat on the grass watching the soccer field. Taiki had once more leant himself out to one of the school clubs. This time, the soccer team's goalie was out sick for the day so Taiki had to fill in for him. Yuu watched as his senior stood in front of the net moving to block the balls as they came forward. It really seemed like the goggle boy was some sort of super athlete. No matter what sport it was, Taiki exceled at it. Baseball, soccer, football, kendo, volleyball, badminton, tennis track, swimming; just about anything, although basketball was his favorite as was evident by the very existence of the Xros Heart basketball team. It seemed almost completely ridiculous.

"Okay, that's it for practice everyone!" the soccer team captain called out, "Taiki-san, thanks again for your help."

"It was nothing," Taiki replied modestly as he came up wiping his forehead off on one of his wristbands. Yuu unknowingly let out a small sigh. It was just one of those things about the goggle boy that he loved. No matter what the problem, Taiki was always there to help.

"Taiki-san, do you think you can sub for our goalie on Friday's game?" one of the players asked.

"Hey now, Taiki-san's done enough for us. We should be grateful he filled in for Kensei," another player scolded his teammate.

"Hey, you guys don't have to worry about it," Taiki interjected, "If you're short a player, sure I can fill in. It won't be...any trouble...at..." His eyes started to close and he began to wobble back and forth. Yuu gasped. Taiki had pushed himself too far again! He sprang to his feet on impulse, but he was unsure what he could do. Still, he had to help him before he hurt himself. That was when a blur shot past him as Taiki started to fall. The blur dove forward and was able to catch the goggle boy's face with a blue pillow before it hit the ground.

Akari Hinomoto let out a sigh. "Honestly, Taiki..."

o o o

"Oh man, thanks a lot, Akari!"

"'Oh man, thanks a lot, Akari!' is not what I wanna hear!"

Taki and Akari were sitting off to the side of the soccer field. After the latter had assured the team that he would be okay they packed up their gear and left for home, leaving the two of them and Yuu on the field.

"Akari-san! It's good to see you again!" the blond said cheerfully, "But what are you doing here? Isn't it a ways to get here from where you live?"

"Yeah, but I had a reason for coming," Akari answered as she reached into her purse, "I was at the news stand because they were having a contest and I won! Look! Four tickets for one night an onsen resort in the mountains!"

"Onsen?" Yuu gasped.

"Lucky!" Taiki cheered, "So obviously you're gonna use one. What about the other three?"

"They're for you," answered Akari as she handed the tickets to Taiki.

"Eh? Me?" Taiki looked at the tickets in his hands and blinked as Akari got up and straightened out her outfit.

"You're always overdoing it, Taiki!" she said as she bonked the goggle boy on the head. "Just for once, relax! Anyway, I'm going this Saturday. Hope I'll see you then." And with those words she walked off.

"Wow! Three tickets for an onsen resort?" Yuu was practically shining right now as he came up beside Taiki. "Who're you taking?"

"Well, there's you of course," Taiki said before turning away to hide the small blush that was just starting to appear on his face. Meanwhile, Yuu turned the other way for the exact same reason. The boys both realized that they would both be in a hot spring. Together. The thought just caused Yuu to turn even redder.

Suddenly, he froze, a thought creeping into his head. "Umm, Taiki-san? You said one ticket's for me, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then...who's the other ticket for?"

o o o

"YAHOO! Onsen! Onsen! Onsen!" Tagiru's cheers were all that Yuu had to listen to as they rode the bus up to the mountain where the resort was said to be. The blond had his chin propped up on his arm which in turn was on the armrest of his seat as he stared out the window at the passing scenery. He had hoped he could spend some time alone with Taiki, or at the very least time without Tagiru around.

The ride up to the resort was long with Tagiru's nonstop chatter, but at long last they finally arrived. Taiki, Yuu, Tagiru, and Akari piled out of the bus with their bags and looked at the elaborate entrance to the resort. It was very traditional sort of hotel. Upon entering, the four presented their tickets to the lady at the front desk. She took them and then had them taken to their room for the evening.

"Ahhh, this is so great!" Tagiru sighed as he dropped onto the floor and stretched.

"Yeah, really great," Yuu muttered, still not happy about the tagalong. Even so, he walked past him and over to the window. He slid it open and stepped outside onto their room balcony. He could smell the sulfur from the hot spring and somehow it relaxed him. At least it couldn't get any worse.

"Hmph. I didn't think I'd expect to see you guys here." Yuu froze and turned around. Standing at the still-open door to their room were Ryouma, Ren, and Airu.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tagiru barked as he sat back up.

"We wanted a vacation. Ryouma had money," Ren explained, shrugging casually, "Plain and simple."

"Like hell it is! You guys following us?" accused Tagiru, "Is there a Digimon nearby to Hunt? Is that why you're here? Well I'm gonna Hunt it first!"

"What's with all the commotion?" a deep voice asked, "We came to relax and we get all this racket. Two people appeared behind Ryouma, Ren, and Airu and Taiki and Yuu gasped.

"Kiriha!"

"Nee-san?"

Kiriha and Nene stood in the hallway. The pair of them were wearing the resort issued yukatas and haoris. "Well it's certainly gotten a lot livlier here," Nene commented.

"How did you get here all the way from Hong Kong?" asked Yuu as he approached his older sister.

"That was easy. Kiriha came to Hong Kong and we flew over here through DigiQuartz on MailBirdramon," answered Nene.

"As expected from the legendary Blue Flare General," Ryouma commented.

"Anyway, they'll be serving dinner soon," Kiriha said, trying to get the conversation moving, "We're on our way there now. If you want food, I recommend you head over soon." And with that he walked down the hall.

"We'll see you at dinner then," Nene said before following.

"I guess we better change and get ready," said Taiki. Yuu nodded in agreement.

"We'll go too," Ryouma notified this team.

A few minutes later, everybody was seated in the dining room as the resort staff served them their dinner. Yuu sat next to Taiki wearing a yukata that felt slightly too big for him. On his senior's other side sat Tagiru who was eagerly waiting for his food. Akari, Kiriha, and Nene sat across from them while Ryouma, Ren, and Airu sat at another table. When the food was served, Tagiru indignantly dove into it.

"He sure likes his food," Nene commented.

"He's always like this, Nee-san," Yuu replied, "and I still can't get used to it."

"'ey! Foo ifff foo!" Tagiru answered with his mouth full.

"Tagiru, swallow your food before you talk!" As Yuu was scolding Tagiru for his undignified behavior, he suddenly came to realize that Taiki was giving him his zucchini tempura. "Eh? Taiki-san?"

"I know how much you like zucchini tempura," Taiki said to him. Yuu blushed as he looked up at his senior.

"'eh Yuu!" Tagiru said with his mouth full again, "Yor fay iff turffinph refff."

"Tagiru, swallow," Taiki muttered.

Tagiru swallowed his food. "Hey Yuu. Your face is turning red," he repeated.

"EH?" Yuu quickly looked away from Taiki and turned his head toward the table. Everybody laughed, including Ren and Airu over at the other table. Yuu said nothing as he ate his dinner in embarrassment.

o o o

Yuu avoided as many people as he could for the rest of the night. The embarrassment at dinner had been too much for him. He stayed in the room sitting on the balcony looking out at the scenery. He just wanted to calm himself down. He had a pot of tea beside him and he sipped it slowly from his cup as he watched the night sky. The smell of sulfur from the hot spring and the soothing tea together helped him relax.

He heard the door slide open and turned his head to see who it was. Thankfully it was just Akari. "Yuu-kun? What are you doing here by yourself?"

"I just...needed some time alone," he said before returning to his tea. Akari came out onto the balcony and sat down beside him.

"Is this about what happened at dinner?" she asked. Yuu said nothing, and then slowly nodded.

"Tagiru's an idiot," the blond said, voicing out his personal thoughts, "He just had to open his big mouth. I mean it's bad enough I see him every day in class. But whenever I get a chance to be alone with Taiki-san, he just barges in without a second thought. It just annoys me."

Akari sat in silence for the next few minutes as Yuu drank his tea to calm himself down. "Yuu-kun, can I ask you something?"

"What is it, Akari-san?"

"Do you...like Taiki?"

Yuu spat out his tea and turned to her. "H-how did...?"

"It's kinda obvious," she said with a little giggle, "I don't know how Taiki can be so oblivious about it." She paused. "Does anyone else know?"

"Just Nee-san," answered Yuu. "Akari-san, please don't tell anyone," he begged.

"It's okay, Yuu-kun. Your secret is safe with me," Akari assured him, "You go at your own pace. You can tell him yourself when you feel the time is right."

"Thanks, Akari-san." Yuu sighed and poured himself some more tea. "Where is Taiki-san right now?"

"He's watching Tagiru play ping pong with Gumdramon." Yuu thought about that image for a moment giggled a little. He could see Gumdramon using his tail as a paddle as he and Tagiru played a reckless game against one another with all their energy.

"Well, I'm going to go get my things and go into the onsen," Akari declared as she got up. "You should too if you really wanna relax." And she left. Yuu continued to sit out on the balcony and drink his tea. As he thought about it more, the more the idea appealed to him. Perhaps a soak in the hot spring would relax him.

o o o

Yuu arrived at the men's change room and disrobed, leaving his yukata in one of the baskets provided. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself as he stepped outside into the shower area. The resort had two separate hot springs divided by a large bamboo wall. Kiriha, Ryouma, and Ren were already in the spring relaxing. Yuu said nothing to them and proceeded to wash himself off in the shower area. Once he was done, he walked over to the spring and stepped in, leaving his towel on the side. He sat down and the water went up to his chest. He sighed and leaned back against the rocks.

"That Tagiru's an idiot, huh?" asked Ren.

"You have no idea," muttered Yuu.

"Well that just makes it all the easier," Ryouma commented, which caused Yuu to turn his head and look at him.

"What do you mean by that?" His only answer was a light chuckle.

"You really don't like him, do you?" aked Ryouma.

"Ugh. He's just _so_ annoying!" Yuu complained, "Everything Taiki-san and I do, he just has to be there. I just can't get a moment of peace with him around."

"So what you're saying is you and Taiki never get any time alone together," Ren summarized. A smug smile appeared on his face soon after.

"Yeah..." Yuu sighed and closed his eyes, trying to relax once again. Then suddenly his eyes snapped back open. "Hey! What do you mean by that?"

"He's just being facetious," replied Ryouma.

"Or am I?" Ren added. Meanwhile Kiriha just sat on the edge of the spring and watched with mild entertainment.

"Come on, not you guys too," Yuu moaned. "Kiriha-san, help?"

"You seem to have things under control," Kiriha said with a smirk as he sat back and continued to watch.

"You know people are thinking it," Ren said, "You don't hide it all that well. Remember how you acted when Tagiru called you out at dinner?"

"Stop, please," begged Yuu.

"Don't forget, Ren. Tagiru doesn't think; he just blurts," Ryouma reminded his partner.

"True, but this blurt apparently revealed a lot."

"I'm leaving." Yuu got up and grabbed his towel. He had come here to relax upon Akari's suggestion, but with Ren and Ryouma present he was anything but relaxed.

"I guess there's no truth then behind all that after all," Ryouma said shrugged. "Kind of a pity, really."

"Guess we'll just have to see how things develop between Taiki and Tagiru," Ren replied. Yuu froze and turned around.

"Now hold on just a second! Why do you think Taiki-san would ever pick Tagiru?" he demanded.

"Isn't it obvious? He sure spends a lot of time with him," Ren pointed out.

"You think that just because of that Taiki-san likes Tagiru?" Yuu asked incredulously.

"Why is this even an issue with you?" Ren questioned.

"Because _I'm_ in love with Taiki-san!" Yuu shouted.

"Yuu!" Yuu suddenly gasped and he froze once more. He knew that voice. He turned around slowly and his heart stopped. Taiki was standing at the entrance to the spring wearing his towel with Tagiru right behind him.

"T-T-T-Taiki-san!" Yuu stammered. How long had Taiki been standing there? More importantly, how much had he heard? Yuu was paralyzed as Kiriha continued to watch in amusement.

Finally, Taiki moved. He stepped closer to the blond and took his hand in his own. Yuu could do nothing as Taiki suddenly closed the space between them and pressed his lips against his. The younger boy's eyes widened even more as he felt the new sensation overtake him.

While everyone was fixated on Taiki and Yuu, nobody seemed to notice the unexpected yelp that occurred when Tagiru suddenly had his towel whipped off and a hand reached around between his legs.

Taiki pulled away slowly and looked at a completely stunned Yuu. The blond seemed completely lost at what just happened. "Sorry, something just came over me," the goggle boy apologized. No response. "Yuu?" At the mention of his name, Yuu snapped back into reality.

"Taiki-san?"

Taiki looked deep into Yuu's eyes. "I love you too."

Yuu felt his heart leap and he wrapped his arms around the older boy. He felt his chin being lifted and he looked up into Taiki's soft grey eyes. This time it was Yuu who closed the gap. He brought himself up and kissed Taiki's lips. The other boy wrapped his arms around the blond and returned the kiss with equal passion.

o o o

"Sounds like everything went well," Akari said with a smile as she sat in the women's spring with Nene and Airu listening to the events happening in the men's spring.

"Well you know Taiki better the rest of us," Nene said in response.

"Yep. And he's just too thick to see things for himself. I figured best thing to do would be to get Yuu-kun to just blurt it out." Akari then noticed Airu sulking on her own. "What's wrong with her?"

"Oh, she just had this crazy little crush on my brother," Nene answered.

"I do not have a crush on him!" shouted the blonde.

"She's a little upset that Yuu turned out to be gay," Nene continued.

"I am not upset!"

o o o

Later that night, Yuu sat on the balcony enjoying his tea. Thinking back, he couldn't help but wonder if this whole thing had been a setup.

"More tea, Yuu?" Yuu turned and saw Taiki sitting next to him offering to pour him more tea. The blond smiled and held out his cup. The older boy filled it and set the pot down as Yuu brought the cup to his lips and sipped. He lowered his hands and turned once again to Taiki, his lover. The pair leaned in closer and kissed under the moonlight.

* * *

><p>And there you have it. The first kiss. From this point on, the drabbles will be in no particular chronological order.<p> 


	4. Titanic

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>TITANIC<strong>

It was something for which Yuu had been waiting for a very long time and Taiki knew that there was no way he was going to convince him to back out. But the blond was most adamant, which was why the two of them were having that very conversation right then and there in Taiki's bedroom.

"Come on, Taiki-saaaaaan!" Yuu whined as he sat on the edge of Taiki's bed. The goggle boy sighed as he leaned back on his desk chair.

"I know, Yuu. But you already have your own copy, so why do you need to see it again?" Taiki asked, trying to reason with his boyfriend, "Besides, it's in 3D. I thought you hated 3D."

"I can forgive it this one time," Yuu replied. "Come on, Taiki-san. I've been dying to see this movie since they announced it!"

"Yuu, please. I really do wanna take you to see it, but it's just too far away. There's no way we can get on a plane and fly there in time to catch the midnight show."

"Who said we'd have to catch a plane?" asked Yuu, "Kiichi can take us on Locomon!"

Taiki opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. Yuu was right. If there was anything that could get them to any part of the world quickly, it would be Locomon. "What about money?" he finally said, "We don't have any American money." In response, Yuu took out his wallet and revealed fifty American dollars tucked in with his yen notes.

"You're prepared to go no matter what, aren't you?"

"That's how badly I wanna see it."

Taiki sighed. There was no way he was going to win. "Alright, Yuu. We'll go."

"Thanks, Taiki-san!" Yuu said with an enormous smile.

"But you know we're going to be missing a day of school because of the time change, right?" Taiki asked, making sure.

"I can catch up easily," was the blond's answer.

"Yeah, _you_ can," Taiki mumbled under his breath.

"What was that, Taiki-san?"

Instead of answering, Taiki got up from his chair and sat down beside Yuu on the bed. "I'm just really happy to take you to see a show you've always wanted to see."

"Right. I'm sure that's the real reason."

"How's this for a reason then?" Taiki placed his hand on top of Yuu's and kissed his boyfriend's lips. Yuu offered no resistance as he kissed him back.

o o o

Yuu was practically bouncing in his seat on the flight across the Pacific Ocean. Thanks to Locomon, what would have normally taken them fifteen hours by plane would be just two hours. He let out a squeal when Kiichi came into the coach to announce their arrival in thirty minutes.

"Easy there, Yuu. We're just going to see a movie. I swear you're acting like a kid going to see Santa Claus," Taiki said.

"That must be some show you're going to see if you needed Locomon and me to take you to America," Kiichi commented as he stood in the aisle with one hand gripping onto a seat back.

"Well, it kinda _is_ Yuu's favorite movie," Taiki replied.

"Not kinda. It _is_!" Yuu corrected.

"Speaking of, how are you gonna order your tickets?" Kiichi questioned.

"Yuu speaks English," Taiki answered. Yuu then repeated Taiki's statement in the language in question.

"You two really got it all figured out, doncha?" asked Kiichi.

"It was mostly all his idea," Taiki said as he pulled Yuu close, causing the blond to giggle.

"Well, have fun on your date. We should be arriving soon." And with that, Kiichi returned to the front of the train.

o o o

Locomon landed a few blocks from the theater where nobody would see him and Taiki and Yuu disembarked. "We'll come get you in five and a half hours," Kiichi informed them.

"We'll be waiting for you," Taiki answered. Kiichi then nodded and closed the door as Locomon took off. Yuu took out his Xros Loader and checked the time.

"We have two hours til the show starts. Let's go get our tickets!" he said excitedly.

"Two hours? You're crazy, Yuu."

"Hey, you're equally crazy, Taiki-san."

"Why do you say that?"

"You were crazy enough to fall for me." Taiki chuckled. It was kinda true. He offered his hand and Yuu took it happily before they began walking.

The ticket line at the theater extended well outside the building itself. It hadn't wrapped around the first corner yet, but by Taiki's standards it was long. It seemed lots of girls had been brought by their boyfriends to see the same show. Taiki and Yuu got in line and waited. Twenty minutes passed before they were finally able to make it to the desk.

"Two tickets for _Titanic 3D_ please," Yuu said in perfect English. He paid the money and took his change and the tickets before proceeding into the lobby. The inside of the theater was even more crowded. The lines for the concession stand were enormous. However, Yuu got in one anyway. With the money he had left, he ordered an extra large popcorn and an extra large drink plus a bag of candy. As he turned around, he saw no sign of Taiki.

"Taiki-san?"

"Over here, Yuu!" Taiki waved Yuu down. He was standing by the condiment stand. Yuu came over and saw that his boyfriend had already grabbed straws and napkins.

"One extra large popcorn and extra large drink," the blond said calling out the snacks in his arms.

"Pepsi?" asked Taiki.

"Your favorite," Yuu answered with a smile. Taiki smiled back and they proceeded to head to their theater. The ticket taker ripped their tickets and handed them their 3D glasses. Since Yuu's arms were full, Taiki took them and slipped them in his pocket.

It wasn't hard to find their theater. It was the only one with the increasingly long line outside it. The boys quickly got in line and stood with everyone else in the wait. Taiki looked around. There were certainly a lot of girls around. The only other boys who were present were the boyfriends of most of those girls. Taiki was suddenly aware that they must have been the only gay couple at the theater. Normally, Yuu would be the one worrying over these things, but he was much too preoccupied with the anticipation of seeing the film to notice.

Finally the line started to move and the crowd proceeded into the theater. Taiki and Yuu found a pair of seats in the middle of the third row from the back. The two of them always liked to sit in a spot that placed them in the dead center of the screen. Once they sat down, Yuu placed their drink in the cupholder belonging to their shared armrest and Taiki punctured the lid with the straws. The blond leaned back in his seat and took a couple kernels of popcorn. Taiki reached over and grabbed a handful.

"Hey, save some for the show," said Yuu.

"It's just a little bite," Taiki replied, "Besides, aren't you always worried about the fat going to your thighs?"

"Taiki-san!" It was true that Yuu was always trying to keep his figure, but he didn't like to have it announced to the whole world. Taiki just chuckled and leaned closer.

"I'm sorry, Yuu. Here, let me make it up to you."

"T-Taiki-san... Not here..."

"Nobody's looking..."

"Maybe, but..." Yuu was always nervous about kissing in public. It wasn't just because he felt that it was best saved for times when they were alone, but it was mostly because he didn't know how people around them would feel about seeing two boys kissing. "Alright, I forgive you." Taiki smirked and ate some more popcorn.

"I'll wait 'til the lights dim," he whispered.

For the next hour, they sat through the pre-show. Taiki honestly didn't understand any of it since it was all in English and ended up falling asleep. Yuu looked over at his boyfriend and smiled. It was typical of Taiki. He decided to just let him sleep until the movie started. The goggle boy continued to sleep through the trailers and was eventually woken up by Yuu shaking him awake. Once Taiki was aware of what was going on, he took out the 3D glasses from his pocket and tore them out of their packaging. The boys slipped them on and the movie commenced.

As always, the movie began with stock footage from the ship's departure on its ill-fated maiden voyage followed by the title against a background of lapping ocean waves. This was stuff that Yuu was all too familiar with. But the wreck of the _Titanic_ looked absolutely impressive in 3D. Taiki, on the other hand, didn't seem as absorbed as his boyfriend. The film was in English and there were no Japanese subtitle. All he could do was try to recall what he remembered during those times the two of them had watched the DVD.

The first twenty minutes of the movie seemed to go by with no response whatsoever. When the scene of the passengers boarding the _Titanic_ finally appeared, Yuu perked up. Kate Winslet looked stunning as she appeared on screen. However, the blond's excitement really showed when he saw Leonardo DiCaprio appear. It was no secret who Yuu's celebrity crush was. Taiki wasn't jealous, though. In fact, he found it quite endearing seeing Yuu fawning over the actor. In fact, he could have sworn he heard him squeal in delight when he appeared on screen in a tuxedo. Taiki chuckled quietly to himself.

Some time passed and Yuu finally knew it was coming. He and Taiki watched as Jack helped Rose up onto the railing at the prow of the ship. Her eyes were closed and he was guiding her movements. When she opened her eyes, Yuu mouthed along with her dialogue as a tear rolled down his face. It was his favorite scene in the entire film.

When the nude scene came up, Taiki saw an opportunity. Yuu's hand was resting on the armrest. Working ever so subtlely, he slowly placed his own hand on top of the blond's. Yuu's hand seemed to react on instinct. As soon as he felt the touch, the younger boy slid his hand to the side and interlaced his finger's with Taiki's, assuring the hold they had on each other. Yuu turned briefly to his boyfriend and smiled. Taiki welcome the smile with his own. Just then they heard a smack coming from the row behind him. Apparently, one of the girls had just caught her boyfriend oggling Kate Winslet's breasts. No doubt others had done the same in other parts of the theater. Yuu just giggled and gave Taiki his "You wouldn't do that to me, would you?" look. The goggle boy replied by placing his other hand on top of Yuu's; his silent promise that he was Yuu's and Yuu's alone.

Tension suddenly rose in the theater when the iceberg appeared. As the crew scrambled to avoid the harbinger of the ship's inevitable doom, Yuu's grip tensed up. Taiki winced as he felt his hand getting squeezed tight. Still, he didn't blame him. Even though this scene was expected, James Cameron had done an exceptional job at building up the suspense.

The entire next hour of the film was dedicated to the sinking of the ship. It began slow with Jack's arrest, but gradually built up. The edge-of-seat suspense as Jack and Rose escaped from the bowels of the ship induced nail-biting began to cry as the string quartet played its final song. The old married couple lying on their bed as the icy cold water of the Atlantic Ocean rushed past and the mother telling her children a story as they fell asleep. Taiki watched, with great admiration, as the captain stood bravely on the bridge as the ship sank beneath the ocean waves. Yuu knew with deep sadness that these people knew that they were going to die and Taiki knew that it was the captain's duty to go down with his ship and he admired the man for his courage.

When the ship's lights went out, Yuu knew that it was almost the end. The boards of the deck began to split following a loud groan and soon with a sickening crack, the ship split in two. The last minutes of the _Titanic_ were truly the most horrifying as its remaining passengers either clung on for dear life or fell into the ocean. Many many struck obstacles as they fell, likely killing them before they hit the water. As the water rushed up to Jack and Rose, Yuu clung onto Taiki. The goggle boy put his arms around him protectively as the scene cames to its end.

A temporary calm seemed to take the theater audience as Jack and Rose fought among the struggling people in the water, but soon passed as the remaining members of the ship's crew searched for survivors. But by then, the ocean's cold grip had claimed their souls for itself. The corpses of the mother with her baby were absolutely horrifying. But what made Yuu cry was the moment when Rose realized that Jack had joined the others who had perished in the ocean's frigid waters and watched as he sank beneath the waves.

The remainder of the film did little to calm the emotions of the audience and as the movie reached its end, the lights slowly came back on and everybody started to leave. Yuu and Taiki took off their glasses and stood up to stretch their legs before filing out of the theater with everyone else. The blond held onto the goggle boy's hand with one hand and the remaining popcorn with the other as he followed him out. Upon exiting into the lobby, they dropped their 3D glasses into the bin and walked outside to catch their ride back to Japan.

o o o

"That was the best movie ever!" Yuu exclaimed as they rode back across the ocean.

"You've seen it a million times already at home," Taiki pointed out as he sat across from the blond in the coach.

"Yeah, but it always gets me every time," replied the blond.

"I dunno. I don't feel like I could ever sit through a three-hour movie so much." The brunet scratched the back of his neck and sighed. "Especially if it at least doesn't have subtitles."

"You should work harder in English then," answered Yuu.

"Hey, don't get cocky with me just because you're at the top of your class, Yuu."

"Admit it, Taiki-san. You don't like even like _Titanic_."

"To be honest? Yeah, I don't! I think it's an overrated chick flick that only got so much recognition because it was a romance movie that ended sadly."

Yuu turned away from Taiki and stared out the window. "Well if that's the way you feel..." Taiki knew then that he had crossed a line that he shouldn't have. He leaned back in his seat and sighed. He knew this was going to be a very long trip if Yuu wasn't going to speak to him. He knew he'd have to apologize, but that wasn't going to be enough.

Taiki's mind went back to the movie. Secretly he admitted to himself that it really wasn't a bad movie. He just couldn't understand it. As he replayed as much of the film as he could in his head, he remembered the way Yuu had reacted to certain scenes and an idea came to him. Without saying a word, he got up and walked to the front of the coach. He knocked on the door and Kiichi answered. They spoke for a moment out of earshot from Yuu and the conductor boy nodded before letting Taiki step through the door.

Yuu sighed as he continued to stare out the window. He felt bad. As much as he loved the movie, he let his love for it get caught up in the moment. He felt he needed to apologize to Taiki. He turned toward his seat, but he was nowhere to be found. He looked around the coach. No one was there. "Taiki-san?" Yuu stood up and walked around. He was nowhere in the coach. He checked the next one. Nobody was there. He checked the last two cars and still nobody. He was all alone. Had he driven off Taiki with his outburst?

Yuu returned to his coach with a heavy heart. This was his fault. If he could just see Taiki one more time...

When he arrived at the first coach, he saw Taiki standing by the exit door. "Taiki-san!" He rushed over and hugged him. "Taiki-san, I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay, Yuu," Taiki whispered, "I want to show you something." Yuu looked up at Taiki. What did he want to show him? He took a few steps back as Taiki opened the door. The lack of a massive rush of wind made him realize that they had slowed down and descended. Yuu was confused, but Taiki seemed confident. He extended his hand forward. "Give me your hand."

Yuu looked at the goggle boy and slowly took the offered hand into his own. Taiki guided him closer. "Now close your eyes." The blond looked at him a little apprehensively. "Go on." Yuu slowly nodded and did as he was told.

Taiki slowly guided Yuu outside. Earlier when he disappeared, he had spoken to Kiichi to allow him to DigiXros Locomon with Ballistamon. This had formed a large Ballistamon-shaped plow in front of the train Digimon with a walkway leading forward. Taiki carefully guided Yuu along the walkway. "Step forward. Don't peek."

"I'm not," Yuu said.

They finally made it to the front and Taiki gently moved his junior in front of him. He stood behind him holding onto his waist to support him. "Do you trust me?"

"I trust you."

Taiki smiled and slowly moved his hands to Yuu's and slowly spread his arms out. It was in that moment that the blond realized what was happening and his heart started pounding. His arms were outstretched to his sides and the goggle boy had moved his hands back to Yuu's waist.

"Alright," whispered Taiki, "now open your eyes."

Yuu opened his eyes. He gasped. Even though he had seen it many times in the movie, experiencing it for himself was an entirely other thing.

"I'm flying!" Yuu's eyes were sparkling as Locomon flew over the ocean. The water rushed past below them and the refreshing sea breeze blew across the blond's face.

Taiki gently took hold of Yuu's hand and interlaced his fingers with his as he rested his chin on his boyfriend's shoulder. He began to sing quietly, which caused Yuu to giggle.

Finally, Yuu lowered his hands and brought Taiki's arms back around his waist. He turned his head and gazed into his lover's eyes. Slowly their lips came together and they met. Yuu brought his hand up behind Taiki's neck and held it steady as they kissed. Kiichi watched the happy couple from the locomotive's window and smiled. This was true love.

Too bad Taiki was a horrible artist.

* * *

><p>The idea for this one came to me when I saw a trailer for <em>Titanic 3D<em> in the movie theater. From there, I decided, along with cherryblossom51, that Yuu's favorite movie was _Titanic_. This inevitably sparked the idea for this drabble. So I wrote it and waited until midnight April 4, 2012; the midnight show of _Titanic 3D_.

Hope you all enjoyed.


	5. Lunch

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>LUNCH<strong>

Taiki had given Tagiru specific instructions not to go up to the roof during lunch hour that day. Ever since he and Yuu had started dating, the two of them just couldn't get a moment alone together. The younger goggle boy always showed up at the worst possible times. Taiki wanted just one lunch hour alone with Yuu, completely uninterrupted.

Finally, the blond in question showed up. Yuu opened the door and stepped out onto the roof with his lunch in hand. Taiki smiled. "Hi Taiki-san," Yuu greeted. He moved toward the goggle boy, but then felt a wave of disappointment wash over him as he walked right past him. All he could do was watch as Taiki grabbed a chair that he had brought up onto the roof with him and jammed it under the doorknob.

"There. Now nobody else can get up," he said as he dusted off his hands, "We have the whole roof to ourselves."

"You really want our alone time badly," Yuu commented.

"So do you," Taiki pointed out. Yuu sighed. It was true. For some strange reason, there was no escaping Tagiru.

"But now we have time," Taiki said as he approached Yuu. He took his hands into his own and slowly removed the blond's lunch, setting it down next to his own before interlacing their fingers together. Yuu backed up and found his back pressed against the fence. He looked into Taiki's soft grey eyes and felt his heart overflowing. Their hands slowly dropped to their sides as the brunet pressed his lips against the blond's. Yuu offered no resistance as he leaned himself into the kiss.

Minutes passed before they finally broke apart. "You have no idea how much I've missed your kiss, Taiki-san," Yuu whispered as he leaned against the fence breathing steadily.

"Your lips aren't something to forget easily either, Yuu," Taiki whispered back as he leaned in and kissed his boyfriend's cheek. Yuu just sighed happily at the touch of the other boy's lips against his soft skin.

The boys pulled away and sat down beside each other with their backs against the fence with their lunches. Yuu always brought some kind of elaborate lunch he made himself the night before. When he opened his bento, Taiki could see colorful rice, an assortment of tempura, sushi, and teriyaki chicken. The goggle boy looked down at the sandwich and juicebox he brought. "That looks...good." In all honesty, he really wanted some.

And somehow, Yuu could sense it. "Do you want some, Taiki-san?"

"Yes please." The blond split his chopsticks and took a piece of prawn tempura from his lunch.

"Here, Taiki-san. Open." Instead of waiting for Yuu to place it in his mouth, however, Taiki simply leaned over and took a bite himself. The blond looked at the remaining half of the tempura he held and then back to his boyfriend. "You're welcome?" He sighed and ate the rest of it. As he finished his bite and swallowed, Taiki suddenly reached over and snatched the chopsticks and the bento from Yuu. "Hey!" The blond reached over to try to take his lunch back, but the older boy kept it well out of his reach. After about a minute of trying to reclaim his food, he sat back down and pouted.

"Open." Yuu looked at Taiki as the goggle boy grabbed a piece of chicken with the chopsticks and held it up. "Open," the brunet repeated. The blond blushed and slowly opened his mouth. Taiki placed the chicken inside and Yuu closed around it. He chewed slowly savoring the taste. But more importantly, he was deeply moved that Taiki had decided to feed him. He could taste the delicious food that was his own cooking once more as his boyfriend placed a broccoli tempura in his mouth. For Yuu, this was Heaven.

Taiki loved it when Yuu acted submissive because it usually meant he was enjoying himself. And he was determined to make sure he really enjoyed their private lunch hour together. He took a piece of sushi and held it out for his boyfriend. Yuu almost immediately closed his mouth over the delicious piece of fish on rice.

After a while, Yuu finally managed to bring himself out of his little fantasy world and looked at Taiki. "You know, Taiki-san, I can feed myself."

"True, but you really seemed to be enjoying that just now," Taiki argued with a 's cheeks turned into a light shade of pink. There were no lies in Taiki's words. The blond could never help himself.

"Tell you what," Taiki proposed, "You can have your lunch back if you give me a kiss."

Now it was Yuu's turn to take control. "Ah, ah, ah. No dessert until you finish your lunch, Taiki-san," the younger boy replied as he wagged his finger at the goggle boy with a wink and a big smile in his face. Now it was Taiki's turn to pout and Yuu couldn't help but giggle at the face he made as he handed back the bento and grabbed his sandwich from where he had left it. The two ate the rest of their lunch in silence. Taiki sat leaning his back against the wall while Yuu had made himself comfortable leaning against his boyfriend. The blond set his bento down on the roof for a moment and took a sip from his bottle of natural spring water. Taiki watched him while he sipped his juice. His boyfriend was always about the healthy eating. But then again, that was probably the main cause for the figure he loved so much about him.

Taiki finished eating first, having a much smaller lunch, and just sat and waited until Yuu was done. When the last morsel was gone, the blond wiped his mouth off with his napkin and took another sip of water before leaning back and stretching, eventually bringing himself into a position where he was lying on the roof with his head resting on Taiki's lap. He looked up and saw his boyfriend staring lovingly into his soft ice-blue eyes. He took in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled slowly feeling the warm fuzziness inside him. It was perfect. No classmates, no Hunting, and best of all no Tagiru. For Yuu, this was paradise.

Taiki gently stroked his junior's cheek, his fingers running against the silky soft and smooth skin. He really had no idea what Yuu's secret was, but he certainly didn't complain. He loved everything about the boy resting on his lap. He moved his hand up and used it to gently cup the side of Yuu's face. He raised his knees up and in turn raised his boyfriend's head. Yuu turned a slight shade of pink as he realized that Taiki's face was getting closer. He closed his eyes and brought his hand up and behind his senior's head as their lips met. Yuu moaned in the kiss as his fingers ran through Taiki's dark brown locks.

There was suddenly a loud bang on the door followed by a familiar voice. "Taiki-san! Taiki-san! Open up!" Tagiru yelled as he continued to pound on the door. Taiki broke away from the kiss and cursed under his breath.

"Go away, Tagiru!" he shouted.

"But Taiki-san, I need a..."

"I said go away!"

There was a silent pause and then the sound of retreating footsteps. Taiki sighed and looked at Yuu. "I'm really sorry about that, Yuu..."

"It's not your fault, Taiki-san," Yuu said as he sat up properly, "Tagiru's just an idiot." He got up to his feet and walked around to stretch his legs. Taiki got up and accompanied him hand-in-hand. They stopped in the middle of the roof and looked at each other.

"You know, we've still got lots of time left for lunch," Taiki pointed out.

"That we do," answered Yuu.

"Wanna continue where we left off?" the goggle boy inquired.

"Maybe, but I kinda lost our place," Yuu said with a little bit of a sly grin. Hopefully, Taiki would pick up on it.

"Well, if we ever lose our place, we can always start over."

Bingo!

Yuu looked into the other boy's gentle grey eyes and smiled. "I'd like that very much." And with that he placed his arms around Taiki's neck while Taiki wrapped his arms around Yuu's waist as they pulled each other in for another kiss. This time they had no intention of stopping until the bell rang.

* * *

><p>Sorry for the gap in time. But like I said, I just write these whenever I feel like it and I've been blocked for over a month now.<p>

Reason I decided to finish this drabble was in celebration of San Francisco's gay pride parade and a certain someone I know attended. So this drabble is pretty much for him. :)


	6. Rainbows

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>RAINBOWS<strong>

Yuu wasn't sure what Taiki had been thinking when he had bought him the gift. It was true that he had been wanting some new ones, but when he opened the shopping bag that his boyfriend had dropped off, he could only stare. They definitely weren't something he would normally wear. And yet here they were, right there in his hands.

They most certainly weren't his color. But it was clear that Taiki must have thought about him when he bought them that day. He tried them on. They fit and they were very comfortable. And yet he still wasn't quite comfortable with actually wearing them. But then again, he had promised. Yuu cursed himself for making that promise.

_**FLASHBACK**_

"What's this?" Yuu looked at the shopping bag he had just received from Taiki as they stood by their shoe lockers at the school entrance.

"Promise me you'll wear them on our date tonight?" asked Taiki.

"Well what are they?" Yuu inquired as he examined the bag's exterior.

"They're a gift. Will you please promise me you'll wear them?"

Yuu looked at the gift apprehensively. "You promise they're not anything embarrassing?"

"Come on, Yuu. When have I ever embarrassed you?"

Yuu just glared at Taiki. "Do you want me to answer that honestly or shall I just lie through my teeth?"

"Point taken," Taiki said with a light chuckle.

"Fine, I'll wear them tonight," Yuu said finally conceding.

Taiki smiled. "Thanks Yuu." Just then the first bell rang. "Ah, I better get to class. See you tonight, Yuu." And with that, he finished putting on his indoor shoes, gave his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, and headed off to class. Yuu looked at the bag once more. He'd have to wait until later to find out what they were. Stepping into his indoor shoes, he placed his street shoes into his locker and placed the bag in with them before closing the door and going upstairs to class.

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Looking back, Yuu really should have looked inside the bag the moment Taiki had given it to him. He could have looked at lunch, but he had promised his boyfriend they'd meet up on the roof with Tagiru to discuss more Hunting issues. Hideaki had been there too for some reason, but he didn't bother questioning it. Chances were he had another money-making scheme up his sleeve and he didn't want any part of it.

Yuu looked at the clock. He had to meet Taiki at the station in half an hour. Looking at the gift once more, he sighed and put them on. He had made his promise; he wasn't going to go back on it now.

o o o

Taiki was waiting at the entrance to the subway station like he had said. Yuu approached with his hands in his pockets. He could feel the older boy's eyes on his concealed limbs. "Hey Yuu."

"Hi Taiki-san." The blond smiled as he walked up to his boyfriend, who greeted him with a kiss.

"Did you wear them?" asked Taiki.

"Yeah, but I feel a little bit silly wearing them," answered Yuu.

"Can I see them?" Yuu hestitated for a moment and then pulled his hands out. "They look good on you." The blond put his hands back in his pockets.

"So which movie are we seeing?" Yuu asked.

"I thought you might enjoying _The Avengers_," was Taiki's answer.

"That sounds good. Are we getting the usual?"

"The usual."

o o o

After the movie, Taiki and Yuu went out for ramen at Masaru's father's restaurant. They took the table in the corner and sat down with their bowls. Taiki ordered the spicy ramen while Yuu had the signature bowl. While they ate they discussed the movie with much excitement in their voices.

"My favorite part was definitely that big teamwork scene," Yuu said as he picked up more noodles with his chopsticks.

"Mine's definitely gotta be the one with the Hulk and Loki," Taki replied.

Yuu laughed. "I think EVERYONE loved that!"

Taiki laughed as well. "Yeah, probably. Oh and the bonus scene after the credits..."

"I can't believe they actually went."

"Yosh! That was an awesome Hunt!" Tagiru suddenly burst into the restaurant and sat down at the counter. Hideaki walked in after him and sat down beside him. "Yo! Gimme a spicy!"

"Make that two," Hideaki followed up.

"Finished already?" asked Taiki. Tagiru turned around on his stool and looked at Taiki.

"It was awesome, Taiki-san! First Gumdramon was all...BAM! But then the other guy went..KABOOM! So I had to Evolve Gumdramon and Arresterdramon was all like...POW POW POW!"

"Sounds like you had a good time," the leader of Xros Heart commented.

"Yeah, and now I think we'd like to get back to our good time," Yuu muttered.

"Okay, fine," said Tagiru. As he turned to go back to his seat, he stopped and whipped back around. "Something seems different about you, Yuu. But I'm not sure what it is."

Yuu looked over at Taiki, who looked back at him, then down, and then started laughing. The blond turned to Tagiru.

"I don't know if you noticed this, but I have RAINBOWS on my hands!"

* * *

><p>I've always been an inspiration for other people, but this is the first time I've ever been inspired by one of them. After seeing a video, the idea for this just came to my head. Thank you, Hyrox816!<p> 


	7. Pillow

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>PILLOW<strong>

Yuu had come to watch Taiki help out the swim team. The day right before the swim meet, one of the team members had come down with a bad case of food poisoning. As always, Taiki had to step up to help. At first Yuu was against the idea since the brunet would end up overexerting himself again. But his mind suddenly changed when he realized that he'd be seeing his boyfriend in a school speedo.

And indeed, Yuu was blushing profusely when Taiki stepped out onto the deck and took his spot at the starting line. And yet he couldn't take his eyes off him. The older boy pulled his goggles down over his eyes and took up his position. When the signal was given, he dove into the water and swam as hard as he could. There were cheers from all the spectators and Yuu was no exception. He called loudly to Taiki, cheering him on. The goggle boy reached the other end of the pool first and quickly flipped himself around and pushed off. However, the boy in the lane beside him was very close behind. By the time they reached the end from which they had begun, they were neck and neck.

"Come on, Taiki-san!" Yuu shouted over the voices of the crowd as Taiki and his rival made it back to the other side and pushed off for the final leg. The tension was high. Whoever reached the wall first would win the championship. Amidst the cheers and the yells, Yuu sat back down on the bench and clasped his hands together praying for Taiki's victory.

Taiki pushed himself hard against his opponent, but the other swimmer wasn't about to let up. He kicked harder and pulled his arms as fast as he could move them. Finally, he felt solid concrete and pulled himself closer to it. As he came to a stop he looked around him. The boy in the lane beside him was also holding onto the edge of the pool and watching the other swimmers finish. He could hear cheers, but he couldn't tell who they were for. Finally, he heard the judge and the name he called was his. This resulted in louder cheers and a very excited Yuu jumped from his seat and ran down to the pool.

Taiki pulled himself out of the water and was quickly assaulted by a blur of blond and yellow. Yuu pressed himself against his boyfriend and hugged him tightly, not caring how wet he was. When he finally pulled away, he handed him a towel and Taiki ran it through his hair before draping it over his shoulders.

"Congratulations, Taiki-san," Yuu said with a big smile. The rest of the swim team gathered around them and began giving their praises to the goggle boy as well.

"Thanks so much, Taiki! We won because of you!"

"I can't believe you never swam in a race before!"

"Thanks to you, we won the championship!"

"Well when your captain Takashi called me and told me what happened, I just had to come and help," Taiki said trying to be modest, "Besides, it's not like… Like I… Like…" His knees went weak and he started to wobble. Yuu gasped. He had done it again. He called out his name as Taiki slowly started to fall forward.

Then in a blur of motion, a pillow caught his face before it could hit the concrete. Akari sighed as she laid on the ground with her arms stretched out holding the soft item. "Honestly, Taiki…"

o o o

"Oh man, thanks a lot, Akari!"

"'Oh man, thanks a lot, Akari!' is not what I wanna hear!"

"Gee, where have I heard this?" Yuu muttered sarcastically as he, Taiki, and Akari sat on the empty bleachers. The goggle boy was now dressed after the team had helped him into the locker room after he had regained consciousness and got him changed. He was now drinking from a water bottle and leaning back against the row behind him.

"How is it that you overexert yourself every single time I come and visit?" demanded the redhead.

"How is it even possible that he doesn't when you're not?" Yuu muttered under his breath.

"What are you going to do if it happens again and I'm not around?" asked Akari.

"We can worry about that when it happens," Taiki answered as he drank again.

"Honestly, Taiki-san. How can you strain yourself so irresponsibly?" Yuu asked.

"See? Even your boyfriend agrees with me!" Akari pointed out.

"Well, my boyfriend always worries about me," Taiki said.

"With good reason!" Yuu argued.

Taiki said nothing, but instead pulled the blond closer. "Will it help if I say sorry?"

"This again, Taiki-san?" Yuu sighed. "Every time we try to tell you something, you brush it off by showering me with affection."

"What? You don't like it?"

"Well, that's the problem. I do. And that's why we can never discuss this seri-" Yuu was cut off when Taiki planted his lips against his and pulled him down for on top of him. The blond sighed happily as he leaned into the kiss.

Meanwhile, Akari just sat there looking away to give the boys some privacy. But moreover, she was trying to come up with a plan. She couldn't keep saving Taiki's face all the time. Somebody else would have to take up that duty. And she knew just who.

o o o

It was Sunday and that meant no school. Yuu was in the kitchen wearing his apron as he put on a pair of oven mitts. He opened the oven and pulled out a cake that he had just finished baking. He took in the delightful scent before placing it on top of one of the stove burners to let it cool. As he started to clean up, the doorbell rang. He set down what he was doing and went to answer it.

"Akari-san! What are you doing here?"

Akari stepped into the apartment and shoved a big pink bag against his chest. "We've got work to do."

"But I just took a cake out of the-"

"Just come!"

o o o

Yuu couldn't believe he was doing this. But he understood why he had to. Akari was a very tough coach and no matter what she never let up. Yuu was glad she had convinced him to wear something comfortable and easy to move in. His normal outfit would have gotten ruined from all the friction he had generated throughout the day.

"Again!" Akari called out. Yuu went back to his starting position and knelt down. When Akari blew her whistle, which the blond had no idea she even owned, he took off running, moving as fast as his skinny legs could carry him.

"Now slide!" Yuu did as he was told and propelled himself forward. He stopped just short of his goal and the foam cylinder hit the floor.

"Let's do it again, Yuu-kun," Akari said. Yuu picked himself up and walked back to his starting point.

This was going to be a long day.

o o o

A week of intense training later, Akari finally turned to Yuu and handed to him the big pink bag with Taiki's name written on the side. "It's your responsibility now."

"But why me?" asked Yuu.

Akari turned to leave, but she turned her head to him one last time, "Because he's your boyfriend."

o o o

The next week, one of the members of the soccer team was out with a broken leg and so Taiki had been called in to fill in. As always, Yuu watched from the bleachers. The pink bag was at his side. His eyes followed Taiki closely. When the game finally ended, he tensed up. If things were about to go the way they had in the past, he had to be ready.

"That was a great game!" one of the soccer teammates said.

"You were great out there, Taiki. I'm surprised you've never played on a team before," the captain remarked.

"Well I play here and there. It's just a… Just a… Just a…" And like that, Taiki started to collapse. Everybody just stood there in shock not sure of what to do when a yellow blur suddenly shot past them and caught Taiki's face before it hit the ground.

Yuu laid on the grass with his arms outstretched holding onto the very pillow Akari had used to save Taiki's face. He sighed, "Honestly, Taiki-san…"

Yep. This was definitely his responsibility now.

* * *

><p>Another idea that came up from discussions with cherryblossom51. Since Akari moved, there's really nobody around to save Taiki's face so somebody has to pick up the slack and who better than Taiki's own boyfriend?<p> 


	8. Shopping

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>SHOPPING<strong>

Taiki was always up for a date with his boyfriend. He just hadn't expected this particular one to turn out this way. When Yuu had told him he wanted to spend some quality time together that Sunday, he quickly jumped at the opportunity. What he had not expected was to be dragged around the mall all day carrying around his boyfriend's bags.

"Come on, Taiki-san!" Yuu called to him excitedly as he ran ahead into another store. Taiki groaned and hefted the shopping bags as he followed him in.

"This is your idea of a date?" he asked.

"We're spending time together, right?" Yuu asked back.

"Well…yeah…"

"And we're doing something together, right?"

"Well when you put it like that…"

"See? It's a date." Yuu went back to browsing through clothes on the racks and pulled out a shirt, which he held out in front of him. "What do you think, Taiki-san?"

"I think it looks fine," the goggle boy replied tiredly.

Yuu went back to the racks and pulled out a pair of pants. "I'm gonna try these on."

While he was gone to try on the clothes, Taiki sat down and put the bags down by his feet. He let out a sign of relief. It hadn't even been two hours and he was tired. Reaching into one of the bags, he pulled out a can of Monster he had bought earlier and popped it open. He took a few sips and leaned back in his chair.

"Taiki-san, what do you think?" Taiki turned his head to find Yuu standing beside him wearing the clothes he had taken in to try on.

"It looks nice," he answered tiredly.

"You think so?" Yuu asked as he spun around once to give his boyfriend a full three-sixty. Taiki nodded and the blond smiled before going back in to change. The goggle boy downed the rest of his energy drink and stuffed the can into his pocket until he could find a bin.

Yuu came out a minute later and paid for his clothes, adding another bag to Taiki's arms. Checking the time, the two headed to the food court for some lunch. Taiki ordered a sub while Yuu got himself pasta. As they sat eating, the latter continued rambling about his plans for his shopping spree, going over a map he had taken from the information desk.

"I think after we're finished lunch, we should stop by over here for some new jeans."

"Yuu, we need to talk," the older boy said as they left the store.

"Hang on, Taiki-san," Yuu interrupted, "And I saw this really cute sweater on our way here."

"Yuu, seriously…"

"I wonder what sort of pants would go with it."

"Yuu…"

"What about shoes? Do I need new shoes?"

"Yuu…"

"Argh! There's so much that goes well together."

"Yuu!" Yuu finally stopped his rambling and turned his attention to Taiki. "Look, Yuu. You know I love you. Very, very much. But seriously, aren't you taking your shopping a bit too far today?"

"Have you seen these deals, Taiki-san?" Yuu asked.

"Yuu, listen. As much as I love you, I'm not a pack mule. And I do have my limits," Taiki explained, trying earnestly to express himself in the kindest way possible to the other boy. Yuu looked into his eyes and understood what he was saying. "Besides, this is a date, right? Aren't we supposed to be doing stuff _together_?"

I'm sorry, Taiki-san," the blond apologized, "I just got so excited from all the sales."

Taiki leaned across the table and placed two fingers on his chin and lifted his head up. "It's okay, Yuu. At least you understand." Yuu nodded. "I forgive you." And with that, Taiki leaned and gave his lover a kiss. Yuu smiled as a light blush crept up on his face.

"So what do _you_ wanna do, Taiki-san?"

"Well for starters, it'd help if I didn't have to carry so many bags," Taiki began.

"It's only four, bags," Yuu pointed out.

"Yeah, but each one's only got one or two things in it. Couldn't we just move them all into one bag?"

"I guess we could do that."

The boys passed the bags around to each other started moving all of Yuu's purchases into the largest shopping bag they had. When they were done, everyone fit in it perfectly with half a bag of empty space remaining. With everything set in place, they finished their lunch but this time the mood between them had changed. After they finished their food, they dumped out their garbage along with the extra bags and Taiki's can. The goggle boy then took the shopping bag in one hand and held his other one out to Yuu. The blond took it happily and they interlaced fingers.

o o o

"Taiki-san! Come have a listen to this!" Taiki put down the CD he was looking at and walked across the music store to where Yuu was at the listening station. He took the headphones his boyfriend held out and held it against his ear.

"Hey, these guys are good!"

"I think I might buy their album," said Yuu.

"No. Let me do it, Yuu." Taiki put the headphones down and picked up a CD off the shelf. Yuu watched as the goggle boy walked up to the checkout counter and paid before returning to him and pressing the disc into his hands.

"Thanks so much, Taiki-san!" Yuu threw his arms around Taiki.

"Love you too, Yuu," the brunet replied as he hugged him back. Yuu quickly let go and put the CD in the shopping bag before the left the music store hand-in-hand. "Where to next, Yuu?"

"What about the Apple Store?" the blond suggested.

Taiki nodded in agreement and the two boys weaved through the crowd into the aforementioned store. The goggle boy moved over to the iPhone table and started browsing one of them. It had been something he'd been hoping to buy sometime. He looked around the store for his boyfriend and found him logged onto Facebook on one of the desktop computers. He half-sighed and half-laughed. It was so typical. Setting the phone demo back on the table, he picked up the shopping bag and walked over.

"Updating your status?" he questioned as he approached.

"Come here for a sec, Taiki-san." Yuu grabbed Taiki's arm and pulled him close. "One, two, three, smile!" It all happened so fast the older boy wasn't sure what had just transpired. The next thing he knew Yuu was playing with the picture, adding hearts and a border.

"That should do it." The blond smiled. "Upload and… There we go!"

Taiki looked over his shoulder. "You came in here just to update your profile picture?"

"A profile picture with my loving _boyfriend_," Yuu corrected with a giggle. Taiki suddenly felt flattered. "Come on, let's go upstairs." He logged out and then grabbed his hand and pulled the goggle boy out of the store. They proceeded to the up escalator. Yuu stepped onto the step above Taiki and turned around. The latter pulled him close and kissed him passionately as they rode up to the next floor. Yuu offered no resistance.

They broke apart just before arriving on the next floor and walked to a bookstore from there. Yuu went to have a look at the eReaders, allowing Taiki to see if the latest instalment of his favorite series had come in yet. When he couldn't find it, he decided to wander the store for a bit. As he did so, a thought crossed his mind.

"Excuse me," he said to a floor associate, "Do you have any books on massage?"

"Yes, they're in our sexuality section." The store employee led Taiki to the appropriate section and left the moment the brunet dismissed him. He had to admit to himself, he would have never expected to find what he was looking for in a section like this. As he began browsing through one of the books, Yuu came up to him.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked. He got a glance of the cover and then turned red. "T-Taiki-san!"

Taiki looked away from the book. "Come on, Yuu. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it too."

Yuu only turned redder. "Well…maybe…."

They stayed there for almost an entire half-hour before finally leaving the bookstore. After that they went into another clothing store. Yuu was all over it, spotting something that caught his eye and moving toward it like a moth to a light. Even though they had been in several clothing stores prior to lunch, this time was very different.

"How about this, Taiki-san?" Yuu asked as he held a shirt up against himself.

"I think you'd look better in this one," Taiki responded as he held up a different one. Yuu took it and held it up against himself as he looked in a mirror.

"I think I'm gonna try these on."

"Want me to come with you?" asked Taiki. Yuu just looked at him and smiled warmly. Grabbing a few pairs of pants the younger boy had picked out earlier, the two went into the fitting rooms together. Taiki sat down and watched as Yuu tried on his clothes.

"How do I look?"

"I like those pants."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because your butt looks amazing in them."

Yuu blushed. "T-Taiki-san!"

"What? It's true."

"Well… I guess… But did you have to say it like that?"

"What would you have wanted me to say?"

"Something a little less embarrassing."

The next few comments honestly were not. In fact, they were all about the same.

"Taiki-san, are you basing your judgments on how my butt looks in these pants?"

"Am I not allowed? I thought that came with being your boyfriend."

"I wanted something more constructive." Taiki laughed before he stood up and placed himself mere inches from Yuu's face.

"It doesn't matter what you wear. You're beautiful regardless," he said sweetly, gently putting his hand under his boyfriend's chin. The blond instantly felt his knees go weak. Taiki was such a flirt. Yuu fell against the wall. The other boy was the only thing keeping him from dropping to the floor altogether. Taiki pressed his lips against Yuu's and kissed him passionately. The young blond strengthened his legs enough to support himself and wrapped his arms around Taiki's neck as he kissed him back.

Their moment was interrupted when there was a loud knock on the door. They broke apart and realized that they had been in there too long. Yuu quickly changed back into his own clothes and the boys came out. They paid for his purchase and walked out of the store hand-in-hand once again.

"Hey Yuu, think you're ready to head home?" asked Taiki.

Yuu checked his Xros Loader clock and nodded, "Yeah. I think so. It's getting late."

"Want to get some dinner on the way back?" Taiki added and Yuu nodded again.

They took the train and stopped for ramen on the way back. By the time they got back to Yuu's apartment the sun was already beginning to set. "Thanks for coming shopping with me, Taiki-san."

"Well it _was_ a date, right? And even if it wasn't, I still got to spend time with my boyfriend," Taiki said in response. Yuu couldn't help but smile warmly. In the end, all that really mattered was that they got to spend time together.

"I guess you should be heading home then, huh?" Yuu asked.

"Well I could," Taiki thought out loud, "but…I think it shouldn't be a problem if I stay the night." Yuu felt his heart somersault. Leaving the shopping bags where he had put them, Taiki stepped closer and pulled his boyfriend into a passionate kiss. Yuu kissed back with equal passion.

What a perfect way to end a day at the mall.

* * *

><p>Believe or not, the bookstore segment is based on a true story. When I was working in a bookstore myself, this really cute gay couple came in and one of them asked me that exact question and it was found in that exact section. He and his boyfriend spent a full half-hour in the store just looking through the books on that shelf.<p> 


	9. Halloween

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

Many thanks go to Tim and Miranda for helping me with costumes.

* * *

><p><strong>HALLOWEEN<strong>

Taiki had gotten permission from his mother to hold a Halloween party at his house while she was out. Every day after school that week he had gone out to go buy supplies while Tagiru and Yuu went Hunting. Lord only knew what the younger goggle boy brought back with him every time. It was honestly getting quite tiring to hear about his exploits every single day.

Hopefully that wouldn't happen tonight. Taiki had an entire night of fun planned that should keep Tagiru's mouth full. Yuu had come early to help him set up so while he was putting up decorations, his boyfriend was in the kitchen preparing food. And speaking of Yuu, the blond was just coming out to the living room right then with the first of the refreshments. He was carrying a bowl of peeled and pitted longans stuffed with black beans designed to look like eyeballs.

"Taiki-san, where's the table?" Yuu asked.

"I moved it against the wall," Taiki answered.

Yuu looked around the living room quickly and spotted the table. "Oh, I see it now." He set the bowl down on its surface and proceeded to go back to the kitchen. He hadn't put on his costume yet for fear of getting it dirty while he was preparing food. Taiki had just finished putting the streamers up on the wall before getting off his chair and taking a step back to admire his work. He had the mood just right. Lights dimmed, scary images, orange and black streamers, creepy foodstuffs. In fact, all that was missing was the pumpkin.

And speaking of the pumpkin, Taiki chose that moment to walk into the kitchen to see Yuu still hard at work preparing food while the pumpkin sat on the table, which was covered in newspaper, just waiting to be carved. Yuu had already picked out a design, which was sitting next to the knives. The blond was mixing the punch when Taiki came up behind him and put his arms around him.

"Taiki-san?"

"Hey cutie," Taiki greeted with a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek, "Why don't you take a break and carve the pumpkin with me?"

Yuu looked at the spread on the counter in front of him and nodded. "Yeah. A break sounds nice." He wiped his hands off on a towel and the two boys walked across the kitchen and sat down at the table. Since Yuu was better skilled with a knife, he would be the one to carve the design while Taiki would just cut open the fruit and scoop out the insides.

The insides. Yuu wasn't too keen on having to deal with them, but for some reason Taiki seemed enthralled with it. However, it might have had something to do with his like for the seeds. As he watched his boyfriend empty out the pumpkin, Yuu noticed that the goggle boy kept setting aside the seeds in a separate pile from the rest of the pumpkin's innards.

Once Taiki was done, Yuu got to work drawing on the big orange squash's rind before he started cutting into it. It didn't take long and before the brunet knew it, his boyfriend had carved out an intricate and terrifying visage upon the pumpkin.

"That's…actually really scary," Taiki commented.

"I do good work," Yuu said proudly admiring his handiwork.

"We should clean this all up quickly. The other should be here soon," Taiki pointed out.

Yuu looked up at the wall clock. "Wow, you're right. I never realized it was already so late."

The two of them quickly cleaned up the mess and Taiki took the pumpkin out while Yuu finished making the food. Now it was all just a matter of waiting for the others to show up. Tagiru was the first to arrive, as usual. He was wearing a red spandex suit with a yellow lightning bolt running down his chest and yellow briefs along with a matching cape and white boots and gloves. His face was covered with a red mask.

"WAHOO! Halloween!" he shouted.

"Tagiru, what…_are_ you supposed to be?" Taiki asked as he stood there wearing most of his Gokai Red costume while he held his helmet under his left arm.

"I'm a superhero!" Tagiru shouted as he struck a pose.

"You're an attention whore," Yuu shot back as he came downstairs after changing into his costume in Taiki's room. He was wearing matching green pants and long-sleeved shirt with a yellow sash around his waist for a belt and a yellow scarf around his neck. He was carrying a red rose in one hand and a plush fox in the other.

"And what are _you_ supposed to be?" Tagiru asked trying to be clever.

"I'm the Little Prince," Yuu answered.

"The little prince? Never heard of it."

"Try reading a book sometime."

"What?!"

"Now now guys, it's a party," Taiki intervened trying to calm the boys down.

"Hey, Taiki! Are you gonna let me out to join or not?" Shoutmon called from the Red General's Xros Loader.

"Oh right." Taiki pulled his Xros Loader out from under his belt. "Reload, Shoutmon." A flash of light shot out of the red device's screen and Shoutmon appeared wearing a golden crown and a purple cloak lined with spotted white fur while carrying his mic stand which had been decorated to look like a sceptre.

"Wow! You look great, Shoutmon!" Yuu exclaimed.

"Heh. It fits for the Digimon King, doesn't it?" Shoutmon replied with confidence.

"Haha! It does!" the blond agreed before taking out his Xros Loader from his pocket. "Reload, Damemon!" Damemon appeared in front of him wearing a white sheet over his body with two holes for his eyes.

Tagiru burst out laughing. "Is that…a sheet ghost? Who does those anymore?"

"Tagiru's attitude is very dame, dame!" Damemon replied.

Once Tagiru had calmed down enough he took out his own Xros Loader. "Come on, Gumdramon. Join the party."

"No! I don't wanna!" Gumdramon's voice echoed out through the crimson device's speaker.

"Oh come on!"

"No! I look stupid!"

"Reload, Gumdramon!"

What came out of Tagiru's Xros Loader caused everyone to laugh. Gumdramon was wearing a pumpkin on his head with a hole for his face and a collar of leaves around his neck.

"I told you I look stupid!" the purple Digimon growled.

"No, no, no Gumdramon," Taiki said as he tried to calm himself down, "We're not laughing at you. We're laughing _with_ you." In response, Yuu mouthed a silent "Not really" under his hand.

After the whole ordeal with Gumdramon's costume, Taiki went about getting the candy ready for handouts. About ten minutes passed before the doorbell rang. The brunet knew it was still too early for kids to start coming by, so it had to be one of his guests. It turns out it was Akari and Zenjirou, who had come all the way back to town for the party.

"Akari! Zenjirou! Come in!" Taiki invited. Akari had dressed up as a witch while Zenjirou had come as a cowboy.

"Thanks for inviting us Taiki," Akari said.

"Just like old times, right?" Taiki replied with a grin.

Kudou Taiki! I swear I'll beat you in apple bobbing this year!" Zenjirou challenged, which elicited laughs from everyone at the door.

"Challenge accepted," Taiki agreed.

"Hey Yuu, are you getting jealous?" Tagiru asked as he sat adjacent to Yuu with a cup of punch in his hand.

"Of course not!" Yuu replied trying to hide his pouty face. Taiki was his boyfriend after all and a dedicated one at that. He'd never cheat on Yuu. Right?

Some more time passed and the next guest arrived. It was Hideaki. Nobody was really sure why Hideaki had been invited, but nobody ever really questioned Taiki's decisions. The young money grubber had come dressed as Loki. Not long after his arrival, a train horn tooted and Locomon stopped on the street, allowing Kiichi and Mizuki to disembark. The young train enthusiast had come dressed as the conductor from the film _The Polar Express_ while the sea-loving treasure hunter wore a pirate costume.

"Heeey! Everyone's here!" Tagiru exclaimed.

"Not everyone just yet," Taiki corrected. They didn't have to wait long before the doorbell rang again. This time it was a group of kids trying to get in some early trick-or-treating. Taiki smiled as he dropped handfuls of candy into their bags. "Now don't eat too much kids."

"Thank you!" they chorused before leaving. Just as they turned the corner to go to the next house, Ryouma, Ren, and Airu showed up.

"Are we late for the party?" asked Ryouma as he stepped in dressed as the Phantom of the Opera.

"Just on time. Come in!" Taiki invited.

"Whaaaaaa?! You invited _them_?" Tagiru gasped.

"Hmph! Shouldn't you be more polite to your invited guests?" Airu scoffed, "Especially if you're inviting…royalty." The cute-loving blonde raised her nose into the air as she entered after Ryouma dressed as a princess.

"Don't mind her," said Ren who was dressed as a vampire, "Airu's just being…"

"Airu?" Yuu finished.

"Hmph!" was all the girl in question said.

"Oh, I see the Digimon are out too," Ren noticed, "Reload, Dracumon."

"Reload, Oppossumon." The two Hunters let out their Digimon. Neither of them had a costume, but Oppossumon was holding onto some pumpkin design balloons and Ren explained that Dracumon didn't need a costume to which everybody agreed.

"Isn't Kiriha-san coming?" asked Yuu.

"He said he'd be late," Taiki replied, "But he said we can start without him. So let's get started!"

The party started with video games as well as food for everyone. Looking at the spread caused just about everybody's stomachs to turn. Yuu had done an excellent job in trying to make the food look as disgusting as possible. Apart from the "eyeballs", he had also made finger cookies with almonds for nails and strawberry puree to simulate blood, gummy spiders and worms he had decorated to look like real spiders and worms, some _Harry Potter_ Chocolate Frogs, Jello brains, something that was made to look like fried mice impaled on sticks, and a cake that looked more like someone's insides.

"Hey, stop doing that!" Tagiru yelled as he mashed the buttons on his controller.

"It's a legit move," Yuu replied as he kept keeping up his attack.

"Ganging up on one guy is not!"

"It actually is," Ren said.

Tagiru growled in frustration as he tried to keep Sonic alive while Ren hammered away at him with Wolf and Yuu hitting him with Pit. "At least Hideaki has my back." Suddenly, Ike slammed his sword down on top of the blue hedgehog and sent him flying off screen. "HIDEAKI!"

Hideaki only laughed. "You were the weakest man on the map. Just made sense to take you out first."

"Smash Ball!" Ren yelled, which caused everybody to make a mad rush to break it first. Taiki laughed from his spot by the door just as he heard the doorbell ring. Grabbing the bowl of candy, he walked over and made sure his helmet was on before opening it.

"Trick or treat!" Taiki smiled behind his helmet upon seeing the four kids in front of him dressed up as Ninja Turtles. He dropped a handful of treats into each of their bags and watched them walk off happily.

"Okay, now that's cheating!" Tagiru yelled.

"I hit you from behind and got the Smash Ball," Yuu answered, "It's fair game." He hit the button and watched as his character's Final Smash knocked Tagiru out of the match. However, it was inevitably Ren who won.

"Winner stays! Losers switch out!" Ren called. Yuu, Hideaki, and reluctantly Tagiru passed their controllers off to Airu, Kiichi, and Mizuki.

"You were doing well," Taiki complimented as Yuu went to get some food.

"I was okay," the blond answered as he poured some punch and picked up a finger cookie. Taiki walked up behind and put his arms around his waist. Yuu swallowed his cookie and just leaned into his boyfriend's hug. He leaned his head back and tried to kiss him, but his lips came in contact with hard plastic. "Ack! Taiki-san, your helmet."

"Sorry, Yuu…" Taiki removed his arms from around the blond and removed his helmet, setting it aside on the table. "Now where were we?"

Yuu turned around so he faced Taiki completely and brought himself closer. Their lips almost touched when the doorbell rang. Taiki cursed the timing, but Yuu promised him he'd get back to him and picked up the bowl of candy.

"Yahoo! I beat Ren!" Airu's voice rang out.

"Cheap shot!" Ren shouted.

"You're just mad because you got beat in a video game by a GIRL!" Airu replied blowing a raspberry.

"No. Peach is the worst character in the whole game and you won with a cheap shot," was Ren's argument.

"I see the usual _Brawl_ arguments are coming up," Yuu noted as he returned to Taiki's side after having distributed treats to that last group of kids.

"Should I have put in _Mario Party_ instead?" Taiki asked.

"No, that's even worse. Everyone knows the whole point of _Mario Party_ is to be the biggest dick in the world."

After a few more rounds, Taiki decided to switch out to _Mario Kart_. The arguments didn't end there. There were talks of switching systems, but then it was brought up that Tagiru was a screen peeker.

"So what now?" Mizuki asked after everyone decided they had had enough of games.

"We could always watch a movie," Kiichi suggested.

"Any suggestions?" asked Mizuki as Taiki turned the television back to normal for the time being.

"Well we could…" Yuu started but suddenly stopped, "Hey, is that my sister?" Everyone's eyes turned and indeed Nene was on TV. She was on stage wearing a costume consisting of a black skirt that resembled bat wings and an orange striped top along with black knee-high boots. Her hair was done up as usual, but held in place with a black band with a skull pin. Her eyes were covered with a black mask shaped like a bat. A choker with a pumpkin decoration on it completed her look.

"Is she doing a Halloween concert?" asked Tagiru.

"No, it's a Christmas special," Ren replied sarcastically.

"Everyone! Thanks so much for coming to my Halloween concert!" Nene called out to her audience. "Tonight you're in for some chills so let me hear you scream!"

"She really knows how to reel in the crowd," Ryouma noted.

"Nene-san~!" Zenjirou exclaimed.

"Case in point," Akari grumbled before bonking Zenjirou on the head.

They watched as Nene sang and performed her concert. Some of the newer Hunters still couldn't believe that Yuu was her younger brother and by that token made Taiki the closest thing to someone dating an idol.

Live broadcast went on for almost an hour before Nene finally said goodnight and exited the stage. "Well that was fun," Hideaki said, "What now?"

"We could watch a movie," Akari suggested.

"What do we have?" asked Zenjirou.

Taiki was about to answer when the doorbell rang yet again. "I got it this time," said Tagiru as he got up to get the candy bowl.

"Don't eat any this time," Taiki called after him.

"Relax, Taiki-san. It's me."

"That's exactly why he's worried," Yuu retorted.

Ignoring comments from Yuu, Tagiru opened the door and screamed.

"What? What? What?" Gumdramon asked.

"Gumdramon, come quick!" shouted Tagiru. The little purple dragon Digimon ran over and gasped. Standing outside the door was Vamdemon.

"What's a Digimon doing here?" asked Airu.

"Time to Hunt it then!" Tagiru cheered as he took out his Xros Loader. "Gumdramon!" Before he could say the words "_Chou Shinka_", however, he suddenly found himself looking into the barrel of one of the many guns on MetalGreymon's back.

"You took your time getting here, didn't you Kiriha?" Taiki asked as he stepped into sight of the door.

The Vamdemon chuckled. "I wanted to scare the rookie. I'd say it worked, wouldn't you?"

Taiki laughed. "You fooled him for sure."

Meanwhile Tagiru was looking back and forth completely dumbfounded. "Wait, you mean you-? And I just-? But what about-? You mean you-? AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!" Everybody laughed wholeheartedly until Yuu finally decided to speak up.

"Well now that Kiriha-san is here, how about we keep the party going?"

"I like the idea a lot," Ryouma agreed.

With Kiriha's arrival, the party had a different air about it. They watched a movie and after that Ren suggested they play _Rock Band_. "I'll do drums!" Tagiru shouted.

"I can play guitar. Kiriha, want to be our bassist?" asked Taiki.

"Hmph. It's just like us, isn't it?" Kiriha replied.

"Yuu should sing!" suggested Damemon.

"Wha? No, I can't," Yuu protested.

"But you love to sing," the small gold and white Digimon responded, "You do it in the shower all the time." This caused Yuu to blush immensely. Taiki couldn't help but giggle, but then he walked over and put his arm around his boyfriend.

"Come on, Yuu. Do it for me at least?" Yuu contemplated this and then finally spoke.

"Oh, alright. For you, Taiki-san." Taiki smiled and kissed the blond tenderly.

The four of them took out their positions and began scrolling through the song list. "Here's a perfect one for Yuu," Taiki said smiling. Yuu looked back at his boyfriend and his cheeks turned pink before nodding in agreement and the song began. Behind him he could hear the tap of Tagiru's sticks on the plastic drum set as Taiki and Kiriha followed their bars. He took a deep breath to settle himself and then started to sing.

"_My mama told me when I was young_

_We are all born superstars_

_She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on_

_In the glass of her boudoir_

"'_There's nothing wrong with loving who you are'_

_She said, ''Cause he made you perfect, babe'_

'_So hold your head up girl and you'll go far,_

_Listen to me when I say'_ "

Everyone who was watching laughed. This was perfect for Yuu! Taiki couldn't help but feel his heart melt as he heard Yuu's angelic voice sing out from his heart.

"_I'm beautiful in my way_

_'Cause God makes no mistakes_

_I'm on the right track, baby_

_I was born this way_

_Don't hide yourself in regret_

_Just love yourself and you're set_

_I'm on the right track, baby_

_I was born this way_"

Right then and there, Taiki was pretty sure that he just fell in love with Yuu even more.

The party eventually ended and everybody went home. Kiichi was the first to leave, taking Mizuki with him since he was her ride. Then it was Hideaki's turn to go, saying that he had stuff to do the next day. Ryouma, Ren, and Airu left together saying they had plans to go Hunting the day after. Akari then went to go to her aunt with whom she was staying for the time being while Zenjirou went to back to go stay with a friend from his old kendo club. In time Kiriha left as well leaving only Xros Heart but eventually Tagiru went to go home also, leaving Taiki and Yuu alone in the house.

"I should probably get home too," Yuu said as he started to get up from his seat.

"You could always spend the night here if you like," Taiki offered.

Yuu paused right at the door. He really didn't have anybody waiting for him back at his apartment and the thought of spending the night with his lover sent his heart fluttering. He turned around. "I would love that, Taiki-san."

They went upstairs to Taiki's room. The brunet took out a T-shirt and some shorts for Yuu to change into. The boys got out of their costumes and into their sleep clothes. Yuu went to go brush his teeth and when he got back Taiki was already in bed reading a book. When the blond entered, he looked up and smiled before putting his reading material away and scooting over. Yuu blushed again as he approached and climbed into bed with Taiki. The latter pulled the covers over his boyfriend and then put his arm over him, pulling him close.

"I love you, Yuu," he whispered gently into his ear.

"I love you too, Taiki-san," Yuu sighed happily. He turned around and met with Taiki face-to-face and the two shared a loving kiss together.

"Happy Halloween, Yuu," Taiki whispered as the boys drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>It feels good to write a dedicated Halloween fic after so long. Hope you've all enjoyed.<p> 


	10. Cutest Couple

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

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><p><strong>CUTEST COUPLE<strong>

Lunch came as it always did. Some would go outside to eat in the courtyard, but lot of students often ate in the classroom. Mami was one of them. As she took out her lunch, Haruka and Midori came to join her.

"Ah, Yuu-sama, want to join us for lunch?" Mami asked as the blond walked by with his lunch in hand.

"Ah, no thanks. I'm going to eat with Taiki-san today," Yuu said apologetically. And with that he hurried off.

"Have you ever noticed how Yuu-sama always spends his lunch time with Taiki lately?" Midori asked Haruka.

"Yeah, I know. I mean I know they're close, but it's like they don't want anyone with them."

"I know. They don't even invite Tagiru anymore."

"Nobody invites Tagiru to lunch."

"True. Hey, Mami. What do you have to say about it?"

"It's probably none of our business," Mami answered, "Yuu-sama just likes to spend a lot of time with Taiki."

"Yeah, but every lunch hour alone?" asked Haruka.

"It's up to him how he wants to spend his lunch time." In truth though, Mami was equally as curious as the other girls. It seemed like Yuu was spending a lot of time with Taiki. They always arrived at school together, they always ate lunch together, they always left school together, and over the past couple of months they had been seen together a lot outside of school. She had tried her best to put it out of her mind. After all, it wasn't any of her business what Yuu did on his own time. But the more she tried, the harder it got as her curiosity slowly got the better of her and the conversation with the girls wasn't helping.

In fact, it was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. Mami suddenly got up from her desk and started to walk out of the classroom. "Where are you going?" asked Midori.

"I'm just…going to get some fresh air," Mami said before leaving.

"But the windows are open."

Mami recalled as she walked that Taiki often liked to hang out on the roof and often Yuu and Tagiru would join him. So she proceeded upstairs and made her way to the narrow stairwell that would take her all the way up. As she approached the door, she could hear voices. She recognized them immediately as belonging to Taiki and Yuu.

"Taiki-san, we really should eat our lunches," she heard Yuu's voice say.

"Come on, Yuu. We have an hour. There's plenty of time to cuddle and still eat." She slowly opened the door a crack and looked outside. Yuu was sitting on the roof leaning back against Taiki, who had his arms around him while his back was up against the fence. The older boy was gently tracing his lips across the back of Yuu's neck, which made the blond sigh happily. His movements moved up and he came to stop behind the younger boy's right ear. He planted a small kiss, which elicited a small moan from Yuu. His curiosity now piqued, he started to lick it gently with his tongue. Almost immediately Yuu's moans got louder.

"Looks like I found a sensitive spot," he whispered before continuing.

"T-Taiki-san…" Yuu tried to speak, but the feelings of pleasure were too overpowering. Mami continued to watch with both surprise and confusion as to what was going on.

After a couple of minutes, Taiki stopped and Yuu just collapsed against his chest. "I love you, Yuu."

Yuu finished catching his breath and looked up. "I love you too, Taiki-san." And Taiki leaned down and pressed his lips against Yuu's, igniting a passionate kiss.

Mami, still having not been seen, quickly shut the door and turned around, sitting on the step. Her face was red and her eyes were wide. She could not believe what she had just witnessed. Her beloved Yuu was KISSING another boy! And Taiki of all people.

o o o

The next day was the same as always. Everyone got to school, morning classes took place, and then lunch. "So Mami, where did you go yesterday?" asked Haruka.

"You left during lunch and came back when it was almost over," Midori added.

"I went to go see what Yuu-sama was doing at lunch and I…" Mami started to trail off. The other girls leaned in.

"And?" they asked simultaneously.

Mami suddenly blurted out, "Yuu-sama is gay!"

The girls did a spittake. "WHAT?!"

"How do you know?" asked Haruka.

"I went up to the roof where he spends his lunch time," Mami explained, "and I saw him kissing Taiki."

"Wait. Yuu-sama is dating Taiki?" asked Chidori.

"That's what I saw," Mami answered.

"You know…that's actually really cute," Haruka admitted.

"I'm a bit disappointed that Yuu-sama likes boys, but I'm really happy for him!" Chidori said happily.

"Hang on," a girl nearby interjected, "Yuu likes _BOYS_?"

o o o

News spread across the school like wildfire and it wasn't long before Yuu found himself surrounded by every girl in his grade asking him questions.

"What's it like, Yuu?"

"Does he treat you right?"

"Which one are you?"

"How does it work with two boys?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Yuu yelled trying to get a word of his own in, "What's going on here?"

"You're gay, right Yuu?"

Yuu's breath stopped in his throat. "Who…told you…that I was…gay?"

"It's all over the school."

In that very moment, Yuu's face turned bright red and he ran out into the hall and just happened to bump into Taiki. News had reached his class too.

"Taiki-san, what's going on?" Yuu asked, looking distressed.

"I think somebody found out about us," Taiki said.

"But…how?"

Taiki shrugged. "I dunno."

"How can you be so calm about this, Taiki-san?!" Yuu shouted, obviously still embarrassed.

"Because it means I can finally do this anywhere I want." And with that, Taiki pulled in his boyfriend and kissed him passionately on the lips. Yuu's awareness of his surroundings did not fade but he did feel his knees go weak, so Taiki put his arms around his waist while the blond possessively wrapped his own behind the taller boy's neck. He could hear every girl around them screaming in delight at the display that was happening in front of them. Many of them even taking pictures.

Mami slipped away from the crowd and looked at her phone. She had caught the kissing couple perfectly! With the image safely stored, she made her way through the school to the yearbook committee's office.

After all, somebody had to make sure the right ones were voted cutest couple.

* * *

><p>So I had this idea come to me randomly one time and I discussed it briefly with a friend which solidified that idea into a full fledged drabble.<p>

Show of hands, who thinks Taiki and Yuu should be voted for cutest couple?


	11. Election

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>ELECTION<strong>

Taiki and Yuu sat in the living room of Yuu's apartment watching the news regarding the American election. The latter had been following it since the morning and it was only after school that Taiki joined his boyfriend in keeping track of the results. Yuu had had his fingers crossed the entire day hoping that the right decision would be made. Even now his worry was very obvious. Taiki reached over and put a hand on Yuu's.

"I'm sure it'll be alright, Yuu," he said comfortingly.

"Taiki-san, the results of this election could affect the whole world," Yuu replied.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating just a little?"

"No! No, I'm not!"

Taiki said nothing and just leaned back against the couch as they continued watching the election results. By contrast, Yuu was sitting at the edge of his seat with his elbows resting on his knees as he nervously tapped the coffee table on occasion.

But eventually the waiting came to an end and the young gay couple leapt up from their seats and cheered. Once they had calmed down, Taiki and Yuu looked at each other and pulled one another into their arms.

"I'm so glad he won!" the blond squealed excitedly.

"Me too," Taiki answered as he held his boyfriend ever so lovingly.

Yuu turned back to the television. "Odama's definitely going to make a big difference with another four years."

"You've been egging him on for gay rights in America for a while," Taiki pointed out.

"Well of course! I want to get married someday and we can't do it here in Japan," Yuu responded, "Don't you want to get married too, Taiki-san?"

Taiki thought about it for a moment and blushed. The thought of marrying Yuu made him very happy. For a moment, he could imagine himself watching Yuu walking down the aisle with the happiest smile he could have ever seen on his face.

"Hello? Boyfriend to Taiki!" Yuu snapped his fingers in front of Taiki's face several times before deciding to try the kiss of life. However, Taiki snapped back into reality before he could even get close, much to Yuu's disappointment.

The boys sat down and continued to watch as Niki Odama's opponent, the Republican candidate Dick Romery, made his concession speech. As they watched, Taiki put his arm around Yuu and pulled him close. The blond sighed happily as he leaned against his boyfriend's chest, sinking a little lower on the couch to maximize comfort.

"Hey," whispered the goggle boy, "remember when we fought SuperStarmon?"

"How could I forget?" asked Yuu as he pulled out his Xros Loader and brought up a digital display of the Digimon in question. "He tried to capture you for his collection!"

"Well believe it or not, Odama was there too," said Taiki.

"Really?" Yuu looked up at the brunet. Taiki nodded. "Oh wow! What was that like?"

"He was frozen," the older boy replied.

"Oh…" Yuu looked disappointed. Taiki placed his hand under his boyfriend's chin and lifted his head.

"But if you hadn't been there, we couldn't have Hunted SuperStarmon and Odama wouldn't have been freed."

"I guess that's true," Yuu realized, "I guess we saved Odama so he could win this election."

"We sure did!" The two of them giggled a bit and resumed cuddling.

"You know, Taiki-san," Yuu said, "when we get married, where do you think we should have our wedding?"

"Well Canada's got marriage equality nationwide," Taiki began.

"Too cold," Yuu muttered, "I want an outdoor wedding."

Taiki was about to say something, but then stopped. He fell silent for a big before speaking again. "You know, we're still only in junior high. Why don't we cross that bridge when we get to it?"

"I guess you're right," Yuu said nodding, "No need to rush into things. But still, it's a beautiful thought."

"Not as beautiful as you," Taiki whispered. Yuu blushed, but felt himself being pulled even closer. He looked into his boyfriend's soft grey eyes.

"To marriage equality?" Taiki asked.

Yuu nodded. "To marriage equality."

And the boys pulled each other in for a warm and passionate kiss.

* * *

><p>For those of you who can't remember or never saw it, in Hunters episode 9, SuperStarmon was kidnapping various celebrities for his collection of superstars and an Obama lookalike named Niki Odama was among them. In order to keep things consistent, I kept the name as it was as well as changed Romney's name.<p> 


	12. Christmas

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>CHRISTMAS<strong>

Taiki was sitting on his bed twisting some leather strips together. With Christmas coming up, he really wanted to get a gift for his boyfriend. However, Yuu was difficult to shop for. Clothes would have been an ideal choice, but the blond only wore expensive designer labels and there was no way Taiki would able to afford something like that. He considered cookware since Yuu loved to cook, but he had no idea what message that would project. The last thing he wanted was for his boyfriend to think that he wanted him to cook for him. He finally decided to put one of his lesser-known skills to use. While Taiki was an exceptional athlete, he was also quite gifted with his hands. He knew his boyfriend; Yuu didn't care about the price or value of a gift. As long as thought was put into it, he would love it.

That was exactly what Taiki was doing right now. Earlier that week he had gone out to a craft store and bought the supplies he would need. He paused in his twisting for a moment and reached for a container on his bedside table. He shuffled through an assortment of beads and pulled out one of the color he desired and threaded one of the strips through it before resuming his twisting. His gift didn't have to be fancy or expensive; it just had to come from the heart.

"Taiki! Dinner!" he heard his mother call. Setting his work aside, Taiki got off his bed, stepped out of his room, and walked downstairs. As he turned to enter the kitchen, his gaze passed the living room where the Christmas tree stood with its lights blinking cheerfully.

His mother hade made udon. Dinner at the Kudou household was usually pretty simple. Taiki took his seat at the table opposite his mother. "_Itadakimasu_." The two picked up their chopsticks and began eating.

"So Taiki, what is that you've been working on up in your room?" Ms. Kudou questioned, "Must be really special if you're spending so much time on it. Or maybe…it's for some_one_ special?" Taiki stopped mid-chew. How could his mother tell? However, she didn't seem to press him as she ate some more noodles.

"Why don't you invite them over for Christmas?" she suggested.

Taiki thought about this for a moment. Yuu did live in that big penthouse apartment all by himself. It actually sounded pretty lonely to have to spend Christmas there all alone. "I think that's a good idea, mom. I think he'd like that very much."

"Great! You can go pick him up the night before."

"Huh? Why do I have to go pick him up?"

"Are you really going to let him walk all the way here by himself on Christmas Eve?" Ms. Kudou ate another mouthful of noodles. Taiki thought about this. His mother had made another good point. He immediately thought about the project he had been working on and decided that he needed to get back to it.

"Thanks mom!" Taiki hurriedly finished his dinner and went upstairs. He picked up the phone and dialled.

o o o

Yuu stepped out of the bathroom in his robe drying his hair with a towel when the phone rang. Letting the damp cloth rest on his head, he picked up and excitedly answered when he saw the caller ID.

"Taiki-san!"

"You know we've been together for a few months. You could probably drop the '-san' anytime now," Taiki replied before chuckling lightly. "What's up, Yuu?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just got out of the shower," Yuu answered as he sat down.

"Better than the last time you got out of a shower?" Taiki asked coyly. Yuu's face instantly turned red. "I'm teasing, Yuu," the brunet assured him with a giggle. "So what are you doing to do for Christmas?" he finally asked, getting right to business.

"Nothing much, I guess," Yuu replied. For years it had been just him and his sister since their parents were always busy working abroad. But ever since Nene went to Hong Kong to pursue her dream of becoming an idol, Christmas just seemed a bit lonelier.

"Well, wanna spend Christmas with me?" Taiki asked.

Yuu felt his heart leap. "Do you mean it, Taiki-san?" He started fanning himself with his free hand as if he were suddenly overheating.

"Mom said it was okay. I'll come pick you up from your place on Christmas Eve," Taiki said.

"That'd be great!" Yuu replied excitedly.

Taiki smiled on the other end. "Great! I'll see you then! Love you, Yuu!"

"Love you back, Taiki!" Yuu hung up and let out an excited giggle. He was going to have a wonderful Christmas after all!

o o o

Taiki left his house in the early afternoon to go pick up Yuu. It was chillier than usual, so he threw on his coat before leaving. Yuu's gift was finished and had been placed inside a small box and wrapped carefully. He was carrying it in his hands, feeling it would probably be safest in his sight. As he got off the train station he looked up at the apartment building, which was his destination. Just looking at the apartment from the outside was enough to make him smile.

As he walked from the station, he looked at the sights around him. The stores were all decorated and there were lights everywhere. He could spot Tagiru tagging along with his parents. The younger goggle boy didn't seem to be in too good of a mood to be dragged along for some last minute shopping. But then Taiki realized that it wasn't the shopping that was making him grumpy, but the reindeer sweater with a red pompom for the creature's nose. A small laugh escaped his lips.

As he turned to continue on his way, he suddenly noticed something in the store window beside him. He went inside almost immediately. He didn't care how much it cost. He just knew that Yuu would love it!

o o o

Yuu was sitting on the couch curled up under a blanket with a bowl of grapes watching his DVD of _Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer_. He was wearing a blue sweater overtop his usual yellow shirt with a picture of a snowman knitted into it. He wasn't actually cold, but he really wanted to be in the Christmas spirit this year, especially if he was going to be with Taiki.

And speaking of Taiki, the doorbell rang just then. He quickly got up and ran over to the door. He didn't even need to look through the peephole to know who it was as he threw the door open. "Taiki-san!"

"Merry Christmas, Yuu," Taiki greeted as he pulled out some mistletoe from his coat pocket and held it over their heads. Yuu giggled and the boys leaned in for a kiss. When they pulled apart, the blond pulled the older by in by his arm and closed the door.

"What's that smell?" asked Taiki.

"I've been baking," Yuu answered. He led his boyfriend to the kitchen where he had several cookies laid out to cool.

"Can I have one?" Taiki asked.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't!"

"Well I wouldn't want to insult my boyfriend now, would I?"

"No, you wouldn't."

Taiki let out a small laugh and picked up a Christmas tree shaped cookie. He bit into it and the ever-so-sweet treat just crumbled in his mouth. "Oh god! These are amazing, Yuu!"

"You expected anything less?" Yuu said with confidence as he ate a reindeer-shaped cookie. After eating a few more, Taiki took off his coat and the boys sat on the couch together.

"What were you watching?" the brunet asked.

"_Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer_," answered Yuu.

"The Animagic one?"

"Of course. It's one of my favorite Christmas movies."

"I liked that one, but I'd say my favorite was _Santa Claus is Coming to Town_."

Yuu turned to look at Taiki. "Did you see the original or just a Japanese dub?" The older boy opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. "I thought so." Taiki closed his mouth and Yuu just giggled and snuggled up against him.

"I'm still happy you came, Taiki-san," he said happily.

"And tomorrow you're going to have Christmas dinner and everything," replied Taiki as he put his arms over him.

"It's going to be wonderful." Yuu sighed happily in his boyfriend's arms.

"Hey, Yuu."

"Hmm?"

"Here." Taiki handed the small wrapped box and Yuu took it from him. He undid the ribbon and slowly removed the wrapping paper, making sure not to tear it. Once he had made an opening, he slid the box out and opened it. He gasped.

"Taiki-san! Did you make this?"

"All by myself," answered Taiki.

Yuu couldn't take his eyes off the handmade bracelet he held in his hand. "It's beautiful. You must have spent a lot of time on this."

"You're worth every day I spent making it," Taiki whispered. Yuu leaned his head back and used his hand to lower the other boy's until their lips met. They pulled apart slowly and Yuu turned his attention back onto the bracelet. He slid it over his hand onto his wrist and adjusted the strap so it fit.

"It looks really good on you."

"You think so?" Yuu asked.

"It matches everything about you," was Taiki's answer.

Yuu felt his heart warm up and he suddenly sat up. "This is for you, Taiki-san." He reached over and picked up an envelope. "It's not much, but…"

Taiki took the envelope and opened it. Two tickets poured out into his hand and he read them. He was speechless. "Yuu…. These are passes to the Sentai convention!"

Yuu smiled. "I thought you'd like them."

"But how did you get them this far in advance?" Taiki asked, still completely awestruck and bewildered.

"Nee-san has connections and she helped me get them," Yuu responded with a smile.

"Well remind me to thank her too." Taiki put the tickets down on the coffee table and pulled Yuu in for a deep passionate kiss.

When they pulled apart, Yuu leaned against Taiki trying to catch his breath. "We should probably get ready to go to your place."

"Actually, mom said we didn't have to go until the morning."

"Really?"

"Well not exactly, but I think she implied it."

Yuu suddenly thought of something. "You don't think she knows, do you?"

"What? About us dating?" asked Taiki, "No, I haven't even come out to her yet."

"I dunno, Taiki-san. Your mom seems like a really perceptive woman," Yuu replied, "She might have figured something out."

"Well as long as we have the night to ourselves, maybe we could-" Taiki suddenly stopped. "You don't think she knows that we-"

Yuu turned deep red. "Oh god! If she knew, I'd be sooooo embarrassed!" He turned away from Taiki in his embarrassment. The brunet put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well maybe she just doesn't want us to back to my place in the dark." When Yuu didn't answer, Taiki leaned closer and whispered into his ear. "Well since we have the night to ourselves, we can take your mind off that thought." Yuu's blush faded, but didn't disappear completely. Now he wasn't blushing because he was embarrassed; he was blushing because of what Taiki was implying.

"Oh! Yuu. One last thing. I was gonna give you just the bracelet, but then I saw something on my way over and just had to buy it on impulse!"

"What is it, Taiki-san?" Yuu asked curiously.

"Close your eyes."

"Huh?"

"Just do it."

"Okay…" Yuu closed his eyes. Once Taiki was sure he couldn't see anything, he got off the couch and went to the door. Meanwhile the blond couldn't help but wonder what his boyfriend could have possibly gotten for him.

"Okay, Yuu. You can open your eyes now." Yuu did as he was told and when he did he saw Taiki standing in front of him holding something yellow, white, and furry. Yuu gasped.

"You got me a cat?!"

"Well you're always living in this apartment all by yourself. I figured you might want some company."

"Taiki-san, thank you!" He took the little kitten from his boyfriend and hugged it. "Welcome to the Amano home," he greeted. The little feline responded with a meow. "She's adorable, Taiki-san. It is a girl, right?"

"I actually don't know," Taiki confessed.

"Well I guess I can find out later. Thanks so much, Taiki-san. I mean, I REALLY love the bracelet and everything. But… Wow, she's just so adorable. And you're right, it does get lonely here by myself sometimes."

Taiki sat back on the couch, "You know if you don't want to go for it tonight, I understand."

"No, no. I still do, Taiki-san," Yuu replied, "But maybe we can wait just a bit. Just so we can get acquainted." The kitten meowed again.

"Merry Christmas, Yuu."

"Merry Christmas, Taiki-san."

The boys shared another kiss before settling down on the couch to watch the rest of the movie, Taiki with Yuu in his arms and Yuu with his brand new kitten in his.

* * *

><p>With Christmas coming up, I felt it was time to write one for Christmas.<p> 


	13. The Dance

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>THE DANCE<strong>

"Everyone, listen up!" Mami called out as classes ended for the day. The classroom quieted down again as she stood at the front behind the teacher's desk to make her announcement. "As you know, the school dance is coming up really soon. It's a formal occasion, so look your best. But we're doing something new this year. As you know, one of our teachers went to America last year and saw how they have big events such as prom or homecoming. And at each of these events, the students elect a king and a queen and then these two individuals will share a spotlight dance together. That's what we're doing this year! It's a very big thing, so make sure you all come in your best. But most of all, have fun!"

o o o

"Yuu-sama, you and Taiki-senpai are totally going to win king and queen!" Chidori squealed as she, Mami, and Haruka followed the blond out of the classroom.

"Thanks for the sentiment, but I don't think that we have that big of a shot at it," Yuu replied.

"Oh on the contrary," Haruka interjected, "It's always the most popular couple who wins."

"And you think Taiki and I are the most popular couple?" asked Yuu.

"Of course!"

"Girls, I really appreciate the thought, but I just want to share a dance with Taiki-san."

"And I promise you'll get it." That voice that Yuu welcomed so much so often made him turn around only to be pulled into a greeting kiss by his loving boyfriend. "But don't you think you'd like it more if we were having it under the spotlight?" Yuu blushed a little. He really did love Taiki and even though all he wanted was to dance with him, secretly he really did want to do it in a way that everybody could see them.

"I guess I would," the blond finally admitted, "But don't you think there will be people who'll be against it?"

"I don't see why not," Taiki answered, "We can already hold hands and make out in public around school. What difference would this make?"

"You should totally go for it!" Mami urged.

"Well if you guys think so," Yuu said, gently fingering the bracelet on his wrist that Taiki had made him for Christmas.

"Then it's settled," Taiki said with a smile, which in turn made Yuu smile.

"Taiki! Wait up for me!" a voice yelled from down the hall.

"Who's that?" Yuu asked curiously.

Taiki groaned. "It's a girl from my class. Hang on, Yuu. This shouldn't take long." He turned around as the girl came to a stop. "Hello, Emiko."

"So, do you have a date for the dance yet?" Emiko asked. Taiki sighed. He knew that she already knew the answer, but she still was insistent anyway.

"I told yo. I have a date already," the goggle boy said as he pulled Yuu closer.

"Don't you want someone you know you can love, though?" Emiko pressed. This wasn't the first time Taiki had to deal with her and it was seriously getting on his nerves.

"Emiko, look. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I can't reciprocate them. I'm gay and I have a boyfriend. So please, just drop it already." And with that, Taiki took Yuu's hand and started walking away with Mami, Haruka, and Chidori to act as a wall between them and Emiko.

"So Yuu-sama, will you come dress shopping with us later?" asked Mami.

"Sure!" Yuu replied cheerfully, "And I gotta make sure Taiki-san gets dressed properly for the dance."

"That reminds me. Are we still on for our date this weekend, Yuu?" asked Taiki.

"Of course! I'd never miss a chance to go see _The Hobbit_!" Yuu answered excitedly.

"We'll see you later, Yuu-sama!" the girls called as they left the school grounds. Yuu waved back to his fan club as they turned a corner and then looked back to his boyfriend.

"So, what do you want to do right now?" the blond asked.

"What do you feel like?" Taiki replied. Yuu thought for a moment and then realized then and there that he was craving ice cream and voiced his thoughts to the brunet. Taiki smiled. "I think I know the place." But before the young couple could take the first step, they heard a voice calling their names.

"Taiki-san! Yuu!" Yuu groaned. It was Tagiru. The younger goggle boy was running after them and stopped to catch his breath on his arrival. "You guys…left quickly…. I need…your help."

Taiki looked at Yuu, who just gave him a reluctant nod. "Come with us, Tagiru."

o o o

The ice cream shop wasn't particularly busy that day, despite the after school hours. Xros Heart was seated at a booth by the window with Taiki and Yuu sharing a sundae with the former's arm around the latter's waist and Tagiru sitting across from them trying to drink a milkshake.

"So what do you want to ask us?" asked Taiki.

"Actually, I was hoping Yuu could help me with this one," Tagiru said, "I wanna try to impress someone at the dance, but I'm not sure how to do it. She likes sophisticated guys and well…"

"You're anything but sophisticated," Yuu finished.

"Yeah…" Tagiru replied much to his own annoyance.

Yuu looked at the boy across the table from him. Tagiru may have been the target of all his contempt, but he was still a friend and as a friend he had to help him. "I'll help you."

"Really?" Tagiru asked, surprised.

"Really, Yuu?" Taiki said, also surprised.

"Tagiru's still a teammate," Yuu answered, "Besides, he could use this."

"Thanks so much, Yuu!" Tagiru practically shouted. Yuu smiled and suddenly felt Taiki's spoon against his lips. His boyfriend was trying to feed him another spoonful of sundae, which he gladly accepted.

"Come to my place in the afternoon on the day of the dance," Yuu instructed, "Don't be late."

"I won't this time! I promise!" Tagiru vowed as he went back to his treat.

"How's the milkshake?" Taiki asked curiously noticing the difficulty the younger goggle boy was having.

"Thick," answered Tagiru, "No matter how hard I suck, I can't get anything to come out." This illicited giggles from both Taiki and Yuu. "What? What'd I say?"

o o o

On the day of the dance, Tagiru arrived at Yuu's apartment at the appointed time, much to the blond's surprise. Taiki was already there and the younger goggle boy could only imagine what the two of them might have been doing before he arrived. When he saw that look on his face, Yuu insisted they had been watching television together.

"Just because we're dating doesn't mean we always have sex at every opportunity," the blond scolded.

"Well actually…" Taiki began, but Yuu shot him a look, which caused the brunet to go back to Fruit Ninja on his phone.

"Just come with me." The blond dragged Tagiru into his room and sat him down in front of his mirror. Taiki walked in after them and leaned against the doorframe. "By tonight, you'll be irresistible."

"Do you really think you can clean him up that much?" asked Taiki.

Yuu removed Tagiru's goggles and turned to his boyfriend. "If Mr. Higgins could teach Eliza, Tagiru here has a shot."

Tagiru looked up at him. "Who and who?"

"Just shut up and let me work my magic." Yuu opened his drawer and pulled out a comb and a pair of scissors. A malicious grin spread itself wide across his face. Tagiru paled.

o o o

"That…actually looks good on you," Taiki complimented. Tagiru was standing in front of Yuu's mirror in a black tuxedo that was only slightly too big for him, but would hardly noticeable in the dim light during the dance, complete with a white shirt and a blue bowtie and a matching cummerbund.

"I look like a penguin and this is super uncomfortable," Tagiru muttered.

"You look nice for once," Yuu replied as he finished running the lint roller over him. "Okay Taiki-san, it's your turn."

"What have you got for me?" the brunet asked.

"Nee-san sent me this shortly after I asked her to find me one." Yuu opened his closet and took out a garment bag. He unzipped it to reveal a black tuxedo exactly Taiki's size. There was also a crimson shirt and a black necktie. Once Taiki was suited up, he stood in front of the mirror as Yuu went over him with the lint roller.

"How did you get my measurements?" the brunet asked as he looked himself over.

"We've been dating for eight months now, Taiki-san. I know," Yuu answered. Once he was done, he sat Taiki down and fixed his hair. When he was finished, he got dressed in his own black tuxedo, which he wore with a white shirt and a gold necktie.

"So, we ready to go?" asked Taiki.

"Please! So I can get out of this thing quicker!" Tagiru added.

"Just let me feed Miho before we go." Yuu went into the kitchen and took out a can of cat food. He pulled off the top by the tab and emptied its contents into his cat's food dish. He then filled the water dish and set them both down. As soon they touched the floor, Yuu's little kitten showed up and made her way over to her dinner.

"I'll be back late tonight, Miho," Yuu said as he picked up his cat and cuddled her, "You be good, okay?" Miho looked up at him and licked his nose, which caused him to giggle. "I love you too." Yuu kissed his kitten on the head and set her back down so she could eat. As he stood back up, Taiki approached him with the lint brush and cleaned him up.

"Let's go now," Tagiru said once the older boy was done.

"Shall we then?" Taiki offered Yuu his arm and the blond blushed a little as he took it and the three boys headed out.

"By the way," Taiki added, "I took a bit of an extra step so we could go to the dance in style."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Yuu. His answer came when they stepped outside and saw a limousine waiting for them. The blond turned to his boyfriend. "You're amazing."

"I know," Taiki said with a smile as he stole a kiss from his lover before the three boys stepped into the vehicle.

o o o

The school gymnasium had been decorated beautifully for the occasion. Streamers and balloons hung from the walls with a refreshments table along one. A teacher stood behind it to serve punch to anybody who asked. Live entertainment was provided by a student from Yuu's English class who had his own band, which turned out to just be a cover band for various Western artists. Nobody was sure why they were chosen, but it was believed they were the only ones willing to perform for free. However, nobody seemed to be complaining so the school took it as a good sign. The photography club had set up a photobooth in a corner with a sheet as a backdrop and many bright lights pointed toward it along with a camera. In the corner by the stage were two boxes with several pieces of paper where people could cast their votes for king and queen.

As Taiki, Yuu, and Tagiru entered, they could hear the band singing Cross My Heart by Marianas Trench.

"Yuu-sama!" The clearly recognizable voices of Mami, Chidori, and Haruka could be heard as the three girls approached. Mami wore a light blue spaghetti strap dress with sensible white heels. Midori wore a simple pink dress with short sleeves that puffed at the shoulders, much like the top she usually wore. Haruka had come in a slim purple dress that Yuu thought suited her very nicely.

"Well don't you girls look amazing!" the blond complimented all three of them, "Mami, those heels. Perfect! Haruka, that dress is you! Chidori, you look fabulous!"

"Thank you, Yuu-sama!" they chorused in unison.

"If it hadn't been for you, we would have never figured out what to wear," Mami said.

"You're a lifesaver!" Chidori exclaimed.

"We knew bringing you was a good idea!" Haruka added.

Yuu couldn't help but laugh. "You girls go ahead and enjoy yourselves. I want to dance with my boyfriend for a bit first."

"Okay. Hope you have fun!" Mami wished them, "Just so you know, we already voted for you two."

"You girls go have a good time," Taiki wished them as Yuu's fan club left.

"I'm gonna take off too," Tagiru said before leaving the couple.

Taiki turned around and stood in front of Yuu. "Shall we dance?" he asked as he offered his hand.

Yuu's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I'd love to." He took his boyfriend's hand as Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen came on. "Oh my god, I love this song!" Now instead of leading the blond to the dance floor, Taiki found himself being dragged out there.

_Hey, I just met you_

_And this is crazy_

_But here's my number_

_So call me maybe!_

Yuu sang along with the song as he danced, which amused Taiki greatly. He actually had never seen the blond cut loose so much before and it made him smile. He made a mental note to remember this for the future.

Meanwhile, Tagiru had gotten himself some punch and a cocktail weenie. He was looking nervously across the gym with a dry mouth and he downed his drink in one gulp. He took a step forward and then immediately retreated against the wall. He stuffed the sausage in his mouth and threw the toothpick away before banging the back of his head against the cement behind him, cursing himself over and over again.

The band then changed the mood of the dance with Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart. Taiki finally got the dance he had imagined as he held Yuu close and the boys danced slowly surrounded by other couples. Mami, Chidori, and Haruka were present as well with their dates for the evening, all boys Yuu had never met and guessed must have been from other schools. He recognized Makoto being sociable, glad that he was finally making friends after that whole Phelesmon incident, which he had to have Taiki explain to him. Shouta was interacting with three girls at once as they asked him to dance with them. The members of the Robot Club had gathered in a corner to discuss the plans for their newest design as opposed to interacting with others. Masaru was there with his father trying to market small cups of ramen among the refreshments.

When the song was done, the band immediately shifted to the more upbeat What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction. "I love this song!" Yuu screamed again.

"I know!" Taiki replied over the cheers from the other students.

_Baby you light up my world like nobody else_

_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed_

_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_

_You don't know_

_Oh Oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_If only you saw what I can see_

_You'll understand why I want you so desperately_

_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe_

_You don't know_

_Oh oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_Oh oh_

Taiki leaned closer to his boyfriend and sang quietly into his ear, "That's what makes Yuu beautiful." Yuu blushed and Taiki captured his lips with his own.

o o o

Taiki and Yuu decided to take a break from the dance floor for a bit while the band sung Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. The latter was waiting for his boyfriend, who returned with two cups of punch. Yuu smiled and they knocked their drinks together before sipping.

"Hey, is that Tagiru?" Taiki asked.

Yuu looked and sure enough the boy with dual-colored hair was still standing by himself gorging on quiches. "Let's go see what's up."

The boys walked over to their teammate who seemed to be sweating despite the relatively cool air in the gym thanks to a very expensive air conditioning system. "I can't do this," Tagiru uttered, "I just wanna go home."

"Tagiru, look at me." Yuu put his hands on the other boy's shoulders and forced his eyes to meet his. "Before we got here, you were so bent on seeing this through. And now you're chickening out?"

"I just don't have the guts like you do," Tagiru sighed.

"Not true," Yuu replied, "I was a huge coward in letting Taiki-san know my feelings. We're only here right now because he overheard me talking about them."

"But I'm glad I walked in on him when I did," Taiki said as he put his arm around Yuu's waist, "If I hadn't heard him, we probably wouldn't be in this relationship right now."

Yuu leaned into Taiki warmly. "I love you, Taiki-san."

"I love you too, Yuu." The two shared a quick kiss.

"That still doesn't help _me_," Tagiru pointed out, "I'm no good at saying stuff."

"Then don't," said Yuu after he and Taiki pulled apart, "Just ask them to dance."

"I don't know how," was the response.

"Just hold out your hand toward them. If they take it, it means they want to dance," Yuu explained as the song ended and the band proceeded to sing Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (TGIF). "You don't need words, Tagiru. But if you don't act, you'll miss your chance. I almost missed mine."

"But I'm glad I caught it for him," Taiki said as he put his other arm around Yuu, now hugging his boyfriend from behind.

"I think I need more punch," Tagiru said as he awkwardly walked back to the refreshments table, "But first I think I need to pee." And with that he ran to use the toilets in the boys' locker room.

Yuu turned around in his lover's arms and was about to kiss him again when the starting notes to Single Ladies by Beyoncé came on. He gasped and immediately ran out to the dance floor, leaving Taiki behind. He was joined by Mami, Midori, and Haruka as they stood in a row behind him with the entire student body around them. What happened next Taiki should have seen coming. Yuu and the girls were performing a fully choreographed dance to the song, which, based on how well they were doing in unison, he believed they must have been spent months practicing. Taiki couldn't help but smile at the dedication his boyfriend put into what he loved.

And speaking of putting dedication to what one loved, his attention turned to Tagiru, who had just returned from the bathroom. While Yuu was dancing, Taiki watched Tagiru drink another cup of punch. He set his cup down and looked across the gym. The older boy followed his gaze to a young couple sitting down after they had shared a dance. Taiki looked back at Tagiru as the younger gogglehead drank some more punch. It was clear he was still hesitant. But then he seemed to gain some courage as he finished off his drink and threw his paper cup into the nearest bin before taking in a deep breath. Taiki watched him as he crossed the gymnasium.

The young couple was talking excitedly with each other as Tagiru approached. The pair looked up as he stopped before them and the band started to sing Justin Bieber's As Long As You Love Me. Taiki watched and what happened next was much to his surprise. Tagiru extended his hand toward the boy!

Taiki never got to see how things developed because soon he was tackled by Yuu and his full attention was turned on his boyfriend. "That was exhilarating, Taiki-san!"

"You sure looked like you were having fun."

"I sure was! But I need a drink now." Yuu got himself some punch and a few spinach quiches before finding a seat and sitting down with Taiki, where the two of them spent a fair amount of time beginning right around when the band started singing Starships by Nicki Minaj.

o o o

After listening to various songs such as LMFAO's I'm Sexy And I Know It, Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar, and Barbra Streisand by Duck Sauce, the happy couple ran back out onto the dance floor the moment the opening notes of the Time Warp were heard. As the students danced the cult classic favorite, the ballot boxes were gathered up and taken into another room to have the votes counted. Taiki saw this and nudged Yuu before pointing.

"Do you think we'll win?" asked Yuu.

"Win or lose, I don't care," Taiki answered, "As long as I get to share a special dance with you."

Several more songs later, the gymnasium finally quieted down as the winners of the votes were about to be announced.

"Thank you all for coming to this year's formal dance," the head of the student council greeted as he stood on stage, "Now the votes have been counted up and I hope everybody is pleased with the results." Two more student council members joined him, each carrying a pillow. On one was a golden crown and on the other a matching tiara.

"And your king for the dance is…" The first envelope was opened, "Kudou Taiki!" Cheers and applause filled the gymnasium as a spotlight fell on Taiki and followed him as he stepped onto the stage where the student council president placed the crown upon his head. Seeing his boyfriend with the shining object on his head made Yuu's heart do backflips in his chest.

"Alright, settle down everyone." The president took the second envelope next. "And now your queen for the dance is…" He opened it and looked at the name inside. "Suzuhara Emiko." The crowd fell silent and several eyes turned to Yuu. The blond was devastated!

"Hang on a second!" Mami called out, "How did Emiko get to be queen when I know for a fact that the majority of us voted for Yuu-sama?"

"I'm sorry, Mami. But policy states that the queen must be a girl," was the president's explanation, "So we had to disregard all votes with boys' names written on them."

More eyes started to fall on Yuu now as tears started welling up in his eyes. Even now, the spotlight fell on Emiko as she made her way on stage. As the president placed the tiara on her head, Yuu bolted out of the gym.

"Yuu! Wait!" Taiki called after him.

"Leave him be," said Emiko as she turned to him, "It's just you and me now, Taiki."

"Now will the king and queen please proceed to the floor for their spotlight dance?" asked the president.

Emiko picked up her dress and walked down to the dance floor, but stopped and turned when she realized Taiki wasn't coming. "Aren't you coming, Taiki?"

Taiki shook his head. "No. I can't."

"Why not? It was meant to be!"

"I just can't. I promised Yuu that I would dance with him."

"Yuu? Taiki, Yuu is a boy! I'm a girl!" Emiko walked back onto the stage and right up to Taiki. "We're meant to be. Not you and him."

Gasps resounded throughout the gymnasium as Taiki looked at her appalled at her words. He suddenly grabbed the microphone from the student council president and faced the crowd.

"Listen, everyone," he said, "I'm flattered that you all voted me to be your king. But this whole 'queen has to be a girl' thing is just complete and utter bull! It doesn't matter who you are. What matters is what's in here." He placed a hand over his heart. "And what's in here for me right now is a promise. A promise I made to somebody I love. A promise that I would share a dance with him and nobody else." Murmurs started to resonate through the gym.

"Taiki, please be realistic," Emiko said, "You and Yuu can never be anything more than friends. That's just how it is! I'm a girl. You should be with me, like it was meant to be."

Taiki turned to Emiko, microphone still held to his mouth. "Emiko, I know you like me. I've known you've liked me since the day we started class together. But you have to get it through your head. I don't love you and I never could."

"You're just confused, Taiki. We can get you help for that," Emiko replied.

"Emiko, listen to me because I'm only going to say this once. It doesn't matter if it's a boy and a girl, two boys, two girls, or anything in between or beyond. Love is love. It comes in all shapes and sizes. And my love is only for one person." Taiki took the crown from his head. "If you want to be queen, fine. But don't expect me to be your king." And with that he shoved it against her chest before exiting leaving the stage and exiting the gym to go find Yuu.

All eyes now turned to Emiko. "So I can count on all of you to help me give Taiki the help he needs, right? If we do it together as a school, he'll know that what he's doing is unnatural."

Mami shook her head and stepped forward. "You just don't get it, do you?"

o o o

Taiki found Yuu in the boys' bathroom crying. The boy was leaning over the sink counter with his head against the mirror. He approached and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Yuu…" He said his name softly. The soothing sound of his voice caused the blond to turn and look at him.

"Taiki-san…" Yuu sniffled. Taiki grabbed some toilet paper from the nearest stall and used it to dry his boyfriend's tears.

"Cheer up, Yuu. I'm here now."

"You came…for me?"

"Of course. I'm your boyfriend."

"Is that the only reason?" Yuu asked, still visibly upset.

"No."

"Then what else?"

"Because I wanted to." Yuu looked into Taiki's grey eyes and saw the loves the goggle boy felt for him.

"You know what would really make me feel better?" asked Yuu.

"What?" Taiki questioned.

"This." And with that, Yuu slipped his arms behind Taiki's neck and pressed their lips together. The older boy offered no resistance and gave his boyfriend what he wanted, wrapping his arms tight around his waist and kissing him back with equal fiery passion.

Their moment was interrupted by a knock on the door and a familiar voice calling their names. Taiki answered and saw Haruka standing outside. "What is it?" he asked.

"Mami asked me to find you," Haruka answered, "She wants you both back in the gym." Taiki looked over his shoulder at Yuu, waiting for a response. The blond looked at the floor for a moment and then nodded, his gaze not leaving his boyfriend's eyes. Taiki offered his hand and Yuu took it before they walked back to the gymnasium.

o o o

When Taiki and Yuu returned to the gym, they found Mami on the stage and no sign of Emiko anywhere. The self-proclaimed president of the Yuu Amano Fan Club cleared her throat and spoke into the microphone. "Now that _all_ the votes have been accounted for, time to announce the winners. For king, the winner is Kudou Taiki!" Taiki looked over at Yuu, who nodded, and proceeded up to the stage. Mami took the king's crown and placed it back on his head. She then turned back to the microphone.

"And with the REAL majority vote, your dance queen is…Amano Yuu!" The spotlight shined down on the blond, who stood there stunned. He stayed in his spot for a while before he began to hear someone clapping. He looked up and saw Taiki clapping his hands. One by one, the rest of the students followed. A smile appeared on Yuu's face and only continued to grow as he made his way to the stage. He climbed up the small flight of stairs and stood tall as Mami placed the tiara on his head.

"And now would our king and queen make their way to the dance floor for their spotlight dance?"

"Hang on." Taiki stopped to fumble around in his pocket and pulled out Yuu's iPod. "Play this song." The band seemed insulted, but Mami did as requested. While she was getting the music ready, Taiki offered his hand and Yuu took it. They descended from the stage into the middle of the dance floor.

"I love you Taiki-san," Yuu whispered as they turned to face each other.

"You'll love me even more once you hear this," Taiki whispered back. The song soon started and Yuu recognized it immediately as My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion.

"My favorite song…" Taiki pulled Yuu close and the couple danced to the song. "I love you, Taiki-san," the blond sighed happily.

"I know," Taiki whispered, "I love you too." Nothing could ruin their moment now. It was as if the entire world had disappeared around them. Nothing short of magical could describe it. It was just Taiki, Yuu, and the voice of Celine Dion. The blond rested his head against Taiki's shoulder. This was all he wanted and it was nice.

When the song was over, everyone else joined them on the dance floor. Taiki looked down at his boyfriend and gently stroked his hair. "You feel like dancing some more?"

Yuu lifted his head and looked up. "In a bit. There's one last thing we have to do." And with that, he pulled Taiki over to the photobooth. "I want to have this night immortalized."

Taiki chuckled. "As you command, my queen," he said bowing.

Now it was Yuu's turn to laugh. "You can rise, my king."

Taiki stood smiling and held his boyfriend close, putting his right arm around his waist. With his free hand, he interlaced fingers with Yuu's right hand and bright it up, kissing his fingers tenderly before lowering them down to chest height.

"I don't care what anyone says, Yuu. You are my one true queen."

"I love you so much Taiki-san. You will forever be my king."

And with that, the boys turned to the camera and the flash went off.

* * *

><p>I believe this would be my longest short to date.<p>

Quite a few reasons came up that made me want to write this. However, I think my biggest one was to write Taiki's little speech. Every day, even in today's society where LGBTQ people are accepted generally, LGBTQ individuals are still widely discriminated against. I wanted this to send a message out there. Though I'm actually a little disappointed; Taiki's speech didn't come out the way I had wanted it to.

However, it's been done. So I hope you've enjoyed this short.


	14. Beauty and the Beast

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>BEAUTY AND THE BEAST<strong>

"Okay, let's take this scene from the top!" Yuu ordered as he took his seat in one of the auditorium seats behind a table with a desk lamp clipped to the edge. "Action!"

Two male students entered stage left with a girl behind them. One of the boys said to the other. "Say something to her."

The other boy turned to the girl. "How do you like it here?" Yuu watched as she remained unresponsive. "The castle is yours now, so you can go anywhere you want. Except the West Wing."

"What's in the west wing?" she asked.

"It's forbidden."

"NO!" shouted Yuu, "No, no, no! You need more emotion! The Beast is extremely defensive of his West Wing. You need more authority! Don't just say it; _demand_ it! You're the master of the castle and you want to make sure she knows it!"

"You picked me to be the Beast and that's what I'm doing," the Beast's actor replied.

"No. I picked you because you're the only one who auditioned whose singing voice doesn't sound like your throat's stuffed with gravel," Yuu answered. He wasn't exaggerating; everybody else who auditioned did well in terms of acting, but their singing was horrible.

"Everyone take fifteen. Be back on time so we can continue rehearsal."

"Thank you fifteen," everyone responded. The blond leaned back in his seat and sighed as his cast members all left the auditorium.

"How are rehearsals going?" Yuu turned toward the direction the voice had come from and saw Taiki walking toward him as the auditorium door closed behind him.

"Awful," the blond answered, "Our leading male can sing, but can't act. And his understudy can act, but can't sing."

"Have you considered recasting?" Taiki asked as he sat down beside his boyfriend.

"Yes, but there are no other boys at this school who want to be in the play." Yuu sighed. "I am just SO stressed out right now."

Taiki put his arm around the younger boy and pulled him in close. "Maybe I can help unstress you."

"I think you're using the word 'unstress' improperly," Yuu began before he was suddenly cut off as the brunet kissed him on the lips. Taiki's hand slowly slid up along the side the blond's cheek and pulled him deeper into the kiss. As if by instinct Yuu brought one arm up and put his hand behind Taiki's head, running his fingers through his hair.

Yuu had no idea how much time had passed, but one of his actors came in sometime during their make-out session. "Hey Yuu, I need to- WHOA! Whoa… I am SO sorry for interrupting." The blond pulled away from his boyfriend just in time to get a glimpse of who it was that had walked in on them.

"Was that who I think it was?"

"You gave them fifteen minutes," Taiki said softly, "Take some of that fifteen for yourself too."

"I guess you're right," Yuu answered in a whisper before his boyfriend pulled him back in.

o o o

At the next rehearsal, Yuu did his best to keep his cool among his actors. However, one was missing and it was really starting to get on his nerves. "Where is the Beast?" he demanded, "If he shows up late again, I swear I'm going to…"

"He's not coming," Cogsworth's actor spoke up, "He came down with Asian bird flu last night."

"Doesn't Asian bird flu only infect birds?" asked Chip's actor.

"Somehow, he found a way."

"Well this is just fan-tucking-fastic!" Yuu exclaimed, coming his absolute closest to actually swearing, "Our male lead is out sick for God-knows-how-long, the show is in a week, and we don't have an understudy! Worse yet he didn't even call or text to let me know he was sick! Where am I going to find a replacement on such short notice?"

"Well you could always try asking," Lumiere's actor suggested putting on a fake French accent, "But I don't think you'll have much luck. I mean, who honestly helps out every club in the school whenever they're short one guy?"

"Your accent sucks!" one of the gaffers yelled.

Yuu's face suddenly lit up. He had just been given an idea.

o o o

"You want me to do what?" Taiki asked as he and Yuu headed home together after school.

"I know it's not really your thing, but pleeeeeeease?" the blond pleaded, "The show's in a week and we desperately need a new male lead. Our guy is sick and he's just been such an irresponsible jerk and has this insufferable ego and-"

"Yuu!"

"Yes, Taiki-san?"

"I was already going to say yes."

Yuu's eyes lit up. "You really mean it?"

"Well you know me; I can't turn my back on anyone. Especially not my adorable blond lover," Taiki answered.

Yuu felt like he was going to faint. But then he quickly composed himself and looked straight at Taiki. "Rehearsals are in the auditorium every day after school sharp. Don't be late."

"I promise," Taiki swore.

"Great! Now let's get your measurements taken care of so we can get your costume started." And with that, Yuu started dragging his boyfriend away.

o o o

The boys were at Yuu's apartment. The blond was running his measuring tape all over Taiki's body and typing his measurements into an email, which he was going to send to wardrobe. All the while the brunet continued reading out loud the script in whichever hand was free at the time.

"That hurts!" he yelled trying to roughen up his voice into a growl.

"If you hold still it wouldn't hurt as much," Yuu replied, reciting the lines from memory.

"If you hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened."

"If you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away."

"Well you shouldn't have been in the West Wing!"

"Well you should learn to control your temper." Yuu pushed himself away from Taiki for a moment to put another measurement into his email. "You're doing well so far, Taiki-san."

"Well I'm amazed you've actually got the whole script memorized," the goggle boy responded.

"Now you remember what spike tape is, right?" Yuu asked.

"Yep."

"And what do I say when I say 'take five'?"

"I'd say 'thank you five'," Taiki answered.

"And what do you do regarding props?"

"Touch only the ones I'm supposed to use and make sure to check them all before curtain."

"I think you'll do just fine," said Yuu as he finished up taking his boyfriend's measurements. Once he sent the email off, he began packing up his sewing kit, but Taiki stopped him.

"Why don't I take your measurements now?" he asked. Yuu's face started to turn red as his boyfriend closed the gap between their faces.

o o o

"Everybody, listen up!" Yuu called out at the beginning of the next rehearsal. The actors all turned their attention on him. "I'd like to introduce our newest addition to our cast. Our new Beast, Taiki Kudou!"

"So you recruited your boyfriend to help us out?" asked Mrs. Potts' actress.

"I stayed up last night going over the script," Taiki said in response.

"Yuu, no offense, but do you really think he's cut out for theatre?" asked Cogsworth's actor, "I mean sure he's helped out every athletics club in the school, but this is something entirely different."

"I say we give him a chance," said Belle's actress, "We've got nothing to lose from this."

"I only promised I'd try," Taiki said addressing their doubts, "You can decide if I'm fit to do this or not."

"That's fair," replied Chip's actor.

"Well Taiki-san, go take your place," said Yuu. The goggle boy walked over to his mark as the blond took a seat. "Anytime you're ready."

Taiki glanced at his copy of the script in his hands and took in a deep breath. Then he did something nobody expected: he rolled up the script and placed it in his back pocket. Everyone was surprised. Was he really going to do this scene from memory?

The actress playing Belle suddenly remembered she was supposed to open and cleared her throat. "Who's there? Who are you?"

"The master of this castle," Taiki replied with a low growl as he stood hunched over.

"I've come for my father. Can't you see that he's sick?"

"Then he shouldn't have trespassed here!" Taiki roared with vigor.

Yuu honestly couldn't believe what he was seeing. Taiki was actually doing the scene from memory and capturing the essence of the Beast perfectly!

When the scene was finally over, Taiki turned to Yuu. "How did I do?"

"I think it's time you were officially welcomed to the cast! Now let's get back to work. We've got a lot of rehearsing to do!"

o o o

Over the course of the week, Yuu was genuinely happy with how rehearsals were going. True to his word, Taiki showed up to every one. But rather than appear on time, the brunet took the time to arrive early. But what truly impressed Yuu was how professional Taiki was being during rehearsal. Despite being in his boyfriend's company, the goggle boy never broke the actor/director relationship. Taiki knew this was important to Yuu, so he made the extra effort to please him.

"Hey Yuu," one of the students from wardrobe interjected one day, "Just thought you should know that the alterations to the Beast costumes are done."

"Excellent." Yuu turned to his actors. "Break for dinner, everyone! We meet back in thirty! Taiki-san, come with me to wardrobe." He got up from his seat as the cast replied "Thank you thirty" and walked behind the stage with his boyfriend in tow. When they arrived, they were shown an elegant blue coat and black pants with a yellow vest and a white cravat. Beside it appeared to be a pair of tattered pants and a big purple cape with a fur suit shirt. There was also a more human version of the formal suit for the final scene when Taiki would make his appearance as the prince.

"Go on and try them on." The brunet took the costumes and disappeared into the back. When he came out he was wearing the last costume and Yuu's jaw dropped.

"How do I look?" Taiki asked.

"You look so hot right now," Yuu managed to say. Taiki wanted to just walk over there and pull his boyfriend into a kiss, but he knew that he had to keep it professional for him. He just said his thanks and returned to try on the other costumes.

o o o

The night of the performance approached fast. After the final dress rehearsal the night before, Yuu was feeling confident. As he and his cast prepared backstage, his phone rang and he answered it.

"Hello? Oh hi. Wait, what? She can't come? A concussion? How?" One by one, the cast and crew turned slowly toward him to try to listen in on the call. "She tripped over her cat and hit her head on the wall? Oh I see. No, it's alright. Thanks for letting me know. Okay, bye bye." He hung up and hung his head.

"What's wrong?" asked Taiki.

"Belle's a no-show. And without an understudy, we can't proceed with the play."

"So is the show cancelled?" asked Lumiere's actor, already in full costume.

"I'm afraid we have no choice," Yuu sighed, "I really hate to do this."

"We don't have to cancel it," Taiki suddenly interjected, "We can still find a replacement for Belle."

"But who?" asked Yuu, "She never had an understudy and nobody could memorize her part in under an hour."

"There's already somebody who knows this entire play by heart," Taiki pointed out, "And if memory serves, the dress should fit just perfectly." Yuu wondered who he meant but then slowly came to realize that everybody was looking at him.

"The show must go on," said Taiki.

o o o

The audience was waiting for the play to begin with programs already in hand when the intercom system suddenly crackled to life and Taiki's voice came through loud and clear. "Ladies and gentlemen, there has been a change in casting. Tonight the role of Belle shall be played by Yuu Amano."

At this announcement there were mixed reactions among the audience. Akari and Zenjirou were clearly taken by surprise. Tagiru's jaw dropped to the floor. Yuu's fan club was squealing with delight. Ryouma had a smug smirk on his face. Ren looked utterly bored. Airu was giggling to herself. Hideaki was asleep in his seat while Kiichi kept nudging him with his free hand trying to get him to wake up while holding his camera in the other. Nene, who had flown in from Hong Kong to see her brother's play, looked bemused.

The lights then dimmed and a narration began explaining the background of the Beast. When the curtain finally drew back, the backdrop of a quaint French village came into view. All eyes were on the stage as Yuu stepped out into view wearing a simple blue and white dress with an apron and a basket and sang.

"Little town. It's a quiet village. Ev'ry day. Like the one before. Little town. Full of little people. Waking up to say." Suddenly, several actors appeared on stage with Yuu all at once.

"Bonjour!"

"Bonjour!"

"Bonjour!"

"Bonjour!"

"Bonjour!"

As the performance went on, people could hardly believe what they were seeing. Yuu was on stage in a dress, his angelic voice echoing through the auditorium, as he played the female lead role of the famous Broadway production.

Members of the school newspaper were going to enjoy this.

o o o

The initial shock of seeing Belle being played by a boy wore off very quickly and it wasn't long until her first meeting with the Beast. Yuu was crouched outside the cell door when suddenly he was pulled back into the shadows and thrown against the floor.

"Who's there? Who are you?"

Taiki growled, unseen by the audience save for a silhouette, "The master of this castle."

"I've come for my father," said Yuu, "Please, let him out! Can't you see? He's sick!"

"Then he shouldn't have trespassed here!" Taiki roared.

"But he could die! Please, I'll do anything!" pleaded Yuu.

"There's nothing you can do!," Taiki snarled as he moved about in the shadows, "He's my prisoner."

"Oh there must be some way I can... wait!" Yuu paused, "Take me instead."

"You!" Taiki's voice echoed loudly, but then he took a much softer tone. "You would take his place?"

"Belle, no! You don't know what you're doing!" Maurice's actor cried out.

"If I did, would you let him go?" asked Yuu.

"Yes," came the answer, "But you must promise to stay here forever."

Yuu waited a few seconds before he spoke his next line, "Come into the light."

Very slowly, Taiki stepped forward as the lighting crew increased the light on him, revealing the brunet in full Beast costume and makeup. Yuu gasped and turned away.

"No, Belle! I won't let you do this!" Maurice pleaded.

Yuu slowly got up and approached Taiki. "You have my word."

"Done!" And with that, Taiki proceeded to open the cell.

o o o

After the grandiose performance of "Be Our Guest", the play took an intermission and audience members left the auditorium to go about various business. Meanwhile backstage everybody was resting up and getting ready for the second half of the play. Crew were busy switching scenery, wardrobe was changing costumes, and makeup was touching up the actors. Yuu and Taiki were sitting together each with a bottle of water in their hands.

"I can't believe this is going better than I hoped," Yuu thought out loud.

"I can't believe how good you look in a dress," Taiki replied with a light chuckle, causing Yuu to blush, "You should wear them more often."

"Now let's not be getting any ideas, Taiki-san!" Yuu said defensively.

"Why not?" asked Taiki as a grin started to widen across his face, "You look great when you're…_Xros-dressing_."

Yuu smacked himself in the face over his boyfriend's pun.

o o o

The play resumed with no problems. Then the big scene came on. Taiki appeared in his Beast's formalwear from stage left as Yuu entered stage right wearing Belle's yellow ball gown. He curtseyed as Taiki bowed and the two held each other close as they danced while on the side a single spotlight fell upon Mrs. Potts as she sang.

_Tale as old as time_

_True as it can be_

_Barely even friends_

_Then somebody bends_

_Unexpectedly_

_Just a little change_

_Small to say the least_

_Both a little scared_

_Neither one prepared_

_Beauty and the Beast_

_Ever just the same_

_Ever a surprise_

_Ever as before_

_Ever just as sure_

_As the sun will rise_

_Tale as old as time_

_Tune as old as song_

_Bittersweet and strange_

_Finding you can change_

_Learning you were wrong_

_Certain as the sun_

_Rising in the east_

_Tale as old as time_

_Song as old as rhyme_

_Beauty and the Beast_

_Tale as old as time_

_Song as old as rhyme_

_Beauty and the Beast_

o o o

The play progressed smoothly and the storming of the angry mob into the castle and the fight between the Beast and Gaston took place on the higher platforms over the stage. Taiki and the other boy performed their choreographed routine much to the appeasement of the audience and ended when the actor portraying Gaston stabbed Taiki with the retractable plastic knife before falling backward offstage onto a large soft mat. The audience watched on the edge of their seats as Yuu laid Taiki down on the floor.

"You – You came back," Taiki stammered.

"Of course I came back. I couldn't let them... Oh this is all my fault. If only I had gotten here sooner," Yuu said appearing to hold back tears.

"Maybe... Maybe – it's better... it's better this way."

"Don't talk like that. You'll be alright. We're together now; everything's going to be fine, you'll see."

"And at least – I got to see you – one last time." And with that, Taiki's eyes closed as his body went limp.

"No, No! Please. Please... Please don't leave me." Yuu leaned over Taiki and sobbed, "I love you."

As the lights dimmed over them, a single spotlight fell upon the rose as the last petal fell. In the cover of the shadows, Taiki quickly peeled off all the makeup while hiding under his cape. He had just finished removing the last of it when the special effects kicked in and their small part of the stage was showered with glitter and multicoloured lights. When Taiki finally stood up, he let the cape drop and came out as the handsome prince. He turned to Yuu.

"Belle… It's me." Yuu looked into his boyfriend's eyes with deep love and then uttered his line.

"It _is_ you!" The two of them slowly closed the gap between them and their lips touched as lights flooded the stage, each of the actors coming out one by one as their characters now in their human forms.

The final scene showed everyone standing around the ballroom watching as Yuu and Taiki danced as Belle and the Prince while the curtain closed and the audience erupted into applause and cheers.

o o o

After the curtain call, everybody went backstage to remove all their costumes and makeup. With a successful job well done, Taiki and Yuu proceeded to leave for the afterparty hand-in-hand when they were stopped.

"You were so brave, Yuu-sama!" Mami, Chidori, and Haruka chorused as the rest of Yuu's fanclub screamed their praises. "Most boys would never take on a female role!"

"That was a really great show!" Airu stated.

"Eh, it wasn't bad," Ren said nonchalantly.

"Impressive," Ryouma complimented, "Most impressive."

"It was great," said Hideaki.

"You slept through the whole thing!" Kiichi scolded.

"You were great, little brother," Nene said with a smile, "I guess stardom runs in the family."

"Hey Yuu." Tagiru stepped forward, "You really do look like a girl." Yuu's jaw dropped at that comment. He tried to think of something to say but no words came out. Thankfully Nene took care of for him when she smacked the younger goggle boy on the head.

"Coming through! School paper!" The school paper's journalist pushed his way through the crowd with his recorder in hand and made his way up to Taiki and Yuu. "Hi, school paper. First question, thoughts on the performance?"

Taiki and Yuu looked at each other and then back to the guy interviewing them.

"Well it's like it was said," Yuu began, "Tale as old as time…"

"Song as old as rhyme…" Taiki joined in. The boys turned to one another holding each other's hands.

"Beauty and the Beast."

* * *

><p>This short is dedicated to Tim who, as an actor, I'm sure has a special place in his heart for this. Though I chose which play and the overall plot, it was him who came up with the idea of having a short revolve around a play. So Tim, this is for you.<p> 


	15. Valentine's Day

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>Valentine's Day<strong>

There were benefits to having access to a spare key. One of them was using it to get into your boyfriend's apartment while he was out in order to surprise him. That was exactly what Taiki Kudou was doing. Yuu had to stay after school to take care of a few things, giving the gogglehead the time he needed to get things ready.

It was Valentine's Day and he wanted to show the love of his life just how much he meant to him. Yuu had already given him the standard Valentine's Day chocolate at school, but Taiki wanted to do something more and there was no better opportunity than this. A quiet meow reminded him that he wasn't alone and he turned to see Miho sitting on the floor looking up at him, her head cocked curiously to the side.

"Hey Miho." He knelt down and petted the little kitten. "Can you keep a secret? I'm preparing a Valentine's Day surprise for Yuu. So don't spoil anything when he gets home, okay?" Miho purred as she rubbed her head against Taiki's hand. "Good girl." He got up and went to the cupboard where Yuu kept his cat's tuna treats and fed one to the adorable kitty. Once she had eaten, she retreated to Yuu's bedroom.

Once Miho was gone, Taiki got straight to business. He went into the kitchen and set down the grocery bags he had brought with him and started unpacking them. He laid out his ingredients across the counter and brought out the necessary cooking utensils. He knew he wasn't as skilled in cooking as Yuu. In fact, the meals he made were usually exceedingly simple. However, it didn't matter to him how fancy or not it was. He wanted to do something special.

Taiki got started. Tonight was important and he didn't want to take any unnecessary risks so he stuck to what he knew. First he started up the rice cooker. He wasn't planning on serving plain white rice, though. While the rice cooked he got to work on slicing up some barbecued pork. Then after he finished he moved on to dice some carrots. There were also peas, corn, a few eggs, and broccoli.

Suddenly he was aware that something was rubbing against his leg and he looked down to see Miho up against him purring. "Aww, come on, Miho. I just gave you a treat." When the kitten wouldn't leave, he cut off a piece of fish and gave it to her. Miho looked at it for a moment and then sniffed it before she took it into her mouth. Satisfied, she walked away from Taiki and crawled into her little hut in the corner of the living room. The brunet now looked at the fish and saw that the two pieces were now uneven. He shrugged. "I'll just give Yuu the bigger piece."

The rice cooker dinged eventually and Taiki opened it and emptied the cooked rice into a bowl. He needed it to cool down now before he could proceed with what he had planned. In the meantime he continued prepping the rest of the food. He put the fish in a shallow bowl and poured teriyaki sauce over them before returning to the vegetables.

After the rice had cooled, Taiki got out the frying pan and greased it lightly with oil. He set the rice off to the side by the stove along with the corn, peas, diced pork, and carrots. A glance at the clock told him that Yuu should be home soon. It would be just enough time. He put two settings on the table and added a pair of candlesticks. Once that was done, Taiki returned to the kitchen and placed the fish on a small oven pan and placed them inside the toaster oven. He then turned his attention to the stove. He put the rice and the other ingredients into the frying pan and began tossing them around, making sure everything got cooked evenly. He smiled to himself. Fried rice wasn't exactly the easiest thing to learn to make, but it was the very first thing his mother had taught him to cook.

By the time Taiki was done cooking, there were still a few minutes left until Yuu got home. He decided to get his last few preparations done. Grabbing his backpack, he retreated to the bathroom. He needed a mirror for what he was going to do. He stripped off his T-shirt and shorts and put on a pair of semi-formal slacks and a dark red shirt. Once he finished doing up the buttons, he took out his iPod and searched up "how to tie a tie" on YouTube. He then grabbed his own black necktie and followed the instructions in the video. Once he was done, he stepped back out into the dining room to finish his preparations.

o o o

Yuu finally got home. He was tired from his earlier obligation and just wanted to relax. When he opened the door and stepped inside, the first thing he noticed was that the lights were off. The only illumination seemed to be coming from two candles on the dining table. As he took his shoes off, Taiki came into view.

"Welcome home, Yuu," he said. Yuu was speechless. When he wouldn't move, Taiki grabbed his hand and guided him over to the table, where he sat him down. The brunet then went into the kitchen and returned with two plates, each with fried rice, teriyaki chicken, and broccoli. It was an odd combination, but it was what he knew to make. He placed one plate in front of Yuu. The blond looked at the food in front of him and inhaled it deeply. It smelled fantastic!

"Taiki-san…"

"Hey, we've been together for nine months now," Taiki reminded him, "You can drop the –san."

"Sorry, Taiki," Yuu replied blushing. Then he noticed the way his boyfriend was dressed. "Are you wearing a tie? That you tied by yourself?!"

"What? You don't like it?"

"No, it's just…really surprising."

"Well, I'm just full of surprises tonight," Taiki whispered into his boyfriend's ear, which caused Yuu to blush even more. The brunet kissed him on the cheek and sat down so they could eat.

"Taiki-sa… I mean, Taiki, this is really good!" Yuu complimented. "I mean, you wouldn't normally serve broccoli, teriyaki salmon, and fried rice together like this, but this is good!"

"You're not the only cook around here," Taiki said with a smile.

After dinner, Yuu sat down on the couch while his boyfriend cleaned up the dishes. While he waited, he noticed a card and a box of candy sitting on the coffee table. He took the card and removed it from its envelope, reading the message inside out loud to himself.

"'Baby you light up my world like nobody else. The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed. But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell. You don't know, oh oh. You don't know you're beautiful.' Taiki!"

"Yeah?"

"You took this from a One Direction song!"

"Did you read all of it?"

"Not yet. Why?"

"Just do it."

Yuu turned back to the card and resumed reading. "'If only you saw what I can see. You'll understand why I want you so desperately. Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe. You don't know, oh oh. You don't know you're beautiful. _That's what make Yuu beautiful_.'" The blond smiled. It was Taiki's most overused pun, but it still warmed his heart.

And speaking of Taiki, the brunet finally joined him on the couch with a popped in a romance movie. He put his arm around his boyfriend, who leaned into him and sighed happily. Taiki opened the box of candy from the coffee table and traced a chocolate along Yuu's soft lips. The blond parted them slowly and allowed him to slide the chocolaty treat in. Warm caramel filled his mouth as Yuu broke through the soft outer shell. In the end, the movie faded away into background noise as the boys turned their focus completely on each other. Before long, Taiki was sitting with his legs across the length of the couch and Yuu lying on top of him leaning his head back against his chest. This was truly what being in love felt like the blond thought; the bliss of true love. Yuu couldn't be happier.

"I love you so much," Taiki whispered as he stroked the soft golden locks of hair resting against his chest. He reached for another chocolate and gently touched it to Yuu's lips. The younger boy slowly opened his mouth and followed the sweet delight with his tongue. Taiki's fingers gently brushed against it as he placed the chocolate into Yuu's mouth and the blond got to enjoy the taste of hazelnut.

As he swallowed his mouthful, Yuu reached out for the box only to find it empty. He could have sworn there was one more left. He turned his head up and saw Taiki looking down at him holding the last chocolate in his teeth. Warmth spread across the blond's cheeks as he moved in closer and the boys' lips touched. The chocolate was quickly lost in the passionate struggle between their tongues and the heat of their kiss.

Yuu tried to catch his breath as they pulled away, but his mouth was occupied with the chocolate his boyfriend had left there. He smiled up at him and ate the sugary delight.

"Huh. The movie's over," Taiki suddenly noticed. Yuu raised his head and looked at the TV.

"Wow, I didn't even notice." The boys got up and Yuu stretched while Taiki went to retrieve the DVD. The blond walked to his room and lay down on his bed, gently nuzzling his pillow. This Valentine's Day had been amazing. He had given Taiki his chocolate at school, but hadn't heard any more from him since. And then upon arriving home his boyfriend had surprised him with a home-cooked dinner and they had spent the duration of a movie just enjoying each other's company.

And speaking of his boyfriend, Yuu sat up as Taiki entered his bedroom. The older boy had taken off his tie and undone the top half buttons of his shirt. "Taiki, this has been the best Valentine's Day ever."

"Valentine's Day isn't over yet," Taiki said as he crawled onto the bed. The blond lay back down as the gogglehead crawled on top of him and pressed their lips together while his hand started undoing the buttons on Yuu's shirt.

* * *

><p>For all those who have somebody to love, happy Valentine's Day. And for those of you who don't, you have nothing to be ashamed of.<p> 


	16. Satchel

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>Satchel<strong>

"Nice purse, Yuu."

"It's a satchel."

Yuu adjusted the strap of the canvas satchel he wore as he passed another schoolmate on his way to meet up with Taiki. He had just gotten it in the mail the other day from his sister who had sent it from Hong Kong. He had received many compliments on it, but for some reason everybody seemed to mistake it for a purse.

"Yuu!" he heard a familiar voice call out.

"Oh, hi Tagiru," Yuu greeted.

"You going to see Taiki-san?"

"Yeah. We have a date this afternoon."

"Cool." It was then that Tagiru noticed the blond's bag. "Nice purse, Yuu."

"It's a satchel."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"NO!"

"Well, whatever. I gotta go. Later." And with that Tagiru took off.

"It is not a purse," Yuu muttered under his breath as he voiced his thoughts.

"Hey Yuu." The blond turned to the direction of the voice and saw Ren leaning against a store corner. "When did you start carrying a purse?"

"It's a satchel! Indiana Jones has one!"

"Indiana Jones has a satchel. YOU have a purse," Ren responded and walked off.

"What is with everyone today?" Yuu wondered as he continued on his way. "Sure I may be a bit effeminate, but that doesn't mean that everything I own has to be too."

"Yuu!" The blond heard his name being called again and looked up to see Airu walking down the sidewalk with Oppossumon.

"Well at least Airu will be able to tell the difference," Yuu thought out loud, "Ren just likes to bug people and Tagiru can be such a boy sometimes."

As Airu approached, her eyes seemed to be drawn to his satchel and once they were within conversation distance she spoke what she had been keeping in. "I love your purse, Yuu! You gotta take me shopping with you sometime!"

"It's a satchel!" Yuu yelled.

"Same thing."

"NO IT IS NOT GODDAMN IT!"

Airu just watched him as Yuu stormed off looking for a way to vent his frustration.

"Is there no one who can tell the difference?"

"Between a satchel and a purse?" a deep voice asked. Yuu turned and saw Kiriha.

"Oh, Kiriha-san! When did you get back?"

"Yesterday, but I'm just here on business," answered the blue general, "But let me offer you a bit of advice. Whatever Taiki says, listen to him. He's going to be more honest with you than anyone else."

"That's true," Yuu replied, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Kiriha smirked and began to walk away. "You can call it what you want, but in the end it's a purse."

"IT'S A SATCHEL!"

o o o

Yuu still had some time left before he had to meet up with Taiki so he decided to stop by his favorite yogurt shop. The girl who worked there knew him well and when she too made a comment about his satchel, Yuu had to do his best not to make a scene in the shop.

"Why does everyone keep calling it a purse?" he muttered as he left with his strawberry banana frozen yogurt.

"Probably because it is one," a smug voice said. Yuu turned around and saw Ryouma approaching.

"It's a satchel," he answered, "My sister bought it for me in Hong Kong."

"It may have been bought as a satchel, but it's being used like a purse." Ryouma smirked. "Besides, it looks better on you as a purse. It goes better with your figure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the blond demanded.

"It means you've got hips like a pear." Yuu's jaw just dropped.

o o o

"I do NOT have hips like a pear!" Yuu exclaimed as he and Taiki walked through the park. The older boy couldn't help but snicker at the comment Ryouma had made, but luckily his boyfriend didn't seem to notice. "I mean I don't know how he can get the nerve to say something like that!"

"Well if it's any consolation, that satchel really looks good on you Yuu!" said Taiki.

"IT'S A SA- Thank you Taiki!"

Taiki smiled and as they sat down by the fountain in the park, he pulled his boyfriend in and kissed him passionately.

"But you know what, Yuu?" he asked when they pulled apart, "It's not the type of bag that determines what it is, but what's in it."

"It's not the outside, but the inside that matters?" asked the blond.

Taiki nodded. "C'mon, you can trust me."

"Well, okay..." Yuu slowly undid the fastenings and opened his satchel. Taiki looked inside at the contents and then turned his eyes to the blond.

"Well Yuu, I really don't know how to say this. But you've got a purse."

* * *

><p>This was just a funny idea I just had to put down on paper. I was remembering a conversation I had with a friend who always wore a satchel and the line "Indiana Jones has one" came up. From there I thought about Yuu having his own and it developed into this.<p> 


	17. Morning

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>Morning<strong>

Yuu awoke to the sound of a car driving past Taiki's bedroom window. He stretched out his muscles within his confined space and looked up to his still sleeping boyfriend. Taiki had his arms wrapped around the blond and held him close. He sighed happily in the older boy's embrace, loving the warmth of his body against his. He continued staring at him, the only thoughts going through his head being how cute Taiki was. He nuzzled his chest and put his arm over his boyfriend. He shifted himself up and gently kissed him. Suddenly he felt the pair of arms around him tighten and Taiki returning the kiss.

"Morning sunshine."

Yuu smiled. "Morning Taiki."

"Sleep well?"

"In your arms, who wouldn't?" Yuu sighed happily and rested his head on the pillow. "Last night was wonderful."

"I'm glad you liked it." Taiki smiled and pulled Yuu in for another kiss. The blond graciously gave himself into the other boy and melted in his arms. When they finally pulled away, Yuu rested his head against Taiki's chest.

"Mmmm, your heartbeat feels wonderful," he whispered.

"And your hair smells really nice," Taiki whispered back.

"Awwwww, Taiki…"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

The boys pulled each other closer and hugged tightly under the covers. "Hey Taiki? I need to stretch."

"Sure, go ahead."

Yuu turned onto his back as Taiki loosened his grip and stretched out his arms and legs. As he relaxed, he turned onto his other side. No sooner had he done so, he felt his boyfriend slide up behind him and pull him back in.

"You feel really nice," Yuu sighed.

"Then you're going to love this," Taiki whispered into his ear. Yuu shuddered in anticipation until he suddenly heard One Direction's _What Makes You Beautiful_.

"That's my phone." The blond reached out and grabbed his Android off the bedside table. He looked at the screen and groaned. "It's Tagiru."

"Better answer it," suggested Taiki, "You know how he gets."

"Fine." Yuu pressed the answer button. "What is it, Tagiru?"

"Hey Yuu, I got a question," Tagiru said.

"What is it?"

"So I'm trying to heat up something for breakfast and I just noticed there's a button on the microwave that says 'potato'."

"Yeah. And?"

"Why is there a button that says 'potato'? There are buttons with numbers on them, but is potato some kind of new time amount for them? 'cause, you know, you're smart."

"Tagiru, it's a setting that can cook potatoes."

"Oh. You mean like the popcorn button?"

"Yes, Tagiru. Like the frigging popcorn button."

"OHHHHH! That makes so much sense now!"

Yuu sighed. "Good. Is there anything else?"

"Wait." Tagiru paused. "You can cook potatoes in a microwa-"

"Goodbye, Tagiru." Yuu hung up and set his phone aside.

"What did he want?" asked Taiki.

"I don't wanna talk about it," said Yuu as he laid back down.

"That bad, huh?"

"Just cuddle me."

"Suits me just fine."

Taiki pulled himself up behind Yuu and wrapped his arms around him. The boys lay there in the bed with birds chirping outside. Yuu was muttering under his breath to himself. Taiki tried to listen and was just able to make out something about Tagiru and potatoes.

"Hey sweetie, why don't I give you something to relax?"

"What's that, Taiki?"

"Trust me, you'll like it." Taiki loosened his grip and pulled away from Yuu before proceeding to give him a soothing back rub.

"Mmmmmmmm… Oh Taiki! That feels good!"

"I bet there are other things that'll make you feel good."

Yuu's eyes snapped open. "Taiki, what are you thinking?"

"Well I wasn't really considering it at first, but now that you've mentioned it…"

Yuu turned around and faced Taiki. "You and your dirty mind!"

"Hey, you love it!" Taiki replied sitting up.

"Well I love you, Taiki!"

"And I love Yuu."

"Tickle fight!" Taiki dove back in and started tickling Yuu's stomach.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Taiki! STOP!" Yuu yelled between laughs.

"No!"

Yuu kicked his legs uncontrollably as he fought against Taiki's relentless tickling. He twisted and turned, trying to get out of his boyfriend's grasp but to no avail. "Okay! OKAY! I GIVE! I GIVE!" Taiki ceased his tickling and gave Yuu time to recover.

"You're…a dick…sometimes…Taiki…"

"Hey, you love it."

"Yeah… I do."

"_Baby you light up the world like nobody else"_

"ARGH!" Yuu grabbed his phone. "Tagiru, what?!"

"Hey Yuu, so I tried sticking the Jagamon I caught last week in the microwave, but he wouldn't fit," said Tagiru.

"Tagiru. Why are trying to stick Jagamon in the microwave?"

"Well ever since you told me about that potato setting, I had to find out. And since you told me that Jagamon is a potato Digimon, I figured maybe…"

"Tagiru. Go out and buy a goddamn potato."

"Hey, how come I never thought of that?"

_Because you're an idiot_, thought Yuu. "Goodbye, Tagiru." He hung up and laid down. "Ugh, Tagiru is so infuriating sometimes."

"Maybe this will make you feel better." Taiki leaned over Yuu and kissed him passionately. The blond raised his arms and wrapped them behind his boyfriend's neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. The boys broke off a couple minutes later and Taiki propped himself on his hands while they caught their breath.

"I love you so much, Taiki…"

"I love you back, Yuu…"

Yuu smiled as Taiki leaned back in for another kiss, gradually leading into a repeat of last night's action.

* * *

><p>The plot of this short were based on real life events between my boyfriend and myself.<p> 


	18. Pride

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>Pride<strong>

"San Francisco!" Yuu announced as he opened the curtains and exposed the city below.

"It was really nice of your aunt to let us stay at her house while she's away," Taiki said to his boyfriend.

"As long as we don't make a mess, Taiki," Yuu reminded him.

"No promises," Taiki replied as he put his arms around the blond and kissed his neck.

"Hey, I understand why you guys are here, but why did I have to come along?" Tagiru asked from his seat at the kitchen table.

"We just thought you should get in touch more with who you really are," answered Taiki.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, Tagiru. We're in San Francisco!" Yuu exclaimed, breaking out of his boyfriend's arms and grabbing Tagiru's arm, pulling out of his chair and dragging him over to the window. "This city has one of the biggest gay pride events in the world!"

"I'm not gay!" Tagiru cried.

"Not saying you are. But I want one of my best friends to be here with my boyfriend and I," Yuu said.

Tagiru looked at Yuu. "You really think I'm one of your best friends?"

"Of course!"

"Well, okay." Tagiru smiled. "Let's go!"

As Tagiru went to get ready, Taiki walked up to Yuu and nudged him. "You're trying to set him up, aren't you?"

"Do I make it that obvious?" the blond inquired.

"Only Tagiru would be oblivious to a setup like this. Just tell me, Yuu, who with?"

Yuu giggled. "You'll have to wait and see."

"So what's the plan?" asked Taiki.

"You'll probably never hear me say this again, but I think we should just wing it today!" Yuu said with a big smile.

o o o

"Are we lost?" asked Taiki.

"It's Yuu's fault if we are," Tagiru replied.

"Hey, I know exactly where to go!" Yuu responded, "You always keep going off on your own, Tagiru, and we have to keep up so you don't get lost."

"Well now we're all lost," Taiki said.

"We are not lost," Yuu assured them.

"How can you even tell?" Tagiru asked him.

"Because we're here." Yuu pointed forward and the other two boys sudden became aware of the large number of people wearing rainbows surrounding them. "Come on, I wanna check out the booths."

"And I wanna grab some extra condoms," Taiki added.

"You would!" Yuu replied.

"Of course!"

"TMI guys!" Tagiru yelled.

"Come on, let's get going." Yuu grabbed Taiki's hand and started weaving through the crowds toward the booths. Tagiru shrugged and followed suit. All around the area, booths had been set up. Some were selling merchandise, some had games set up, and there were booths from various organizations promoting their messages.

"Okay, so it's ten dollars for the hat plus five for the sunglasses," Yuu thought out loud, "Then there's the four-dollar flag, but if I buy a button with it it'll come out to less."

"Ahhhh! Math!" yelled Tagiru.

"Hey Yuu! Come check this out!" Taiki yelled. Yuu paid the vendor for his merchandise and quickly joined his boyfriend with Tagiru in tow.

"What's this?" asked Tagiru, "It looks like ring toss."

"It is ring toss," Taiki replied.

"But what are those things they're tossing the rings onto?" Tagiru asked further, "They look like-"

"Yes they are, Tagiru," Yuu interrupted.

"Oh my god why?!" the younger goggle boy exclaimed.

"Because they can," was Taiki's answer.

"Can we please just go?" Tagiru begged.

"Just wait for us where we can see you," said Yuu.

"Fine," Tagiru grumbled, "I wonder were Kiichi is."

"If I had to guess, he's at the rail museum," answered Yuu, "That boy's going to be there all day."

"Peachy," Tagiru mumbled.

"Hey Tagiru, behind you," Taiki said. Tagiru turned around and his jaw dropped when he saw a naked man handing out pamphlets.

"Do you think that was a bit much?" Taiki asked his boyfriend.

"I think it was just enough," Yuu said giggling.

"They can be that big?!" gasped Tagiru.

"Open your mouth any wider and you can fit the whole thing in," Yuu said in response.

"Wait, what?"

"Let's just keep going." Yuu grabbed Tagiru's hand and then took Taiki's hand in his other one. They visited several other booths. Taiki stopped at every safe sex and HIV awareness booth to take large handfuls of condoms and stuff them in his backpack. Yuu was trying to buy anything he could. Tagiru just watched quietly trying to keep his eyes on his own hands so he wouldn't accidentally catch a glance at anyone else.

o o o

"That was a great first day," Yuu sighed happily as he plopped down on the couch with Taiki that night.

"The zoo was a great way to wind the day down after looking at everything at Pride," the older boy said.

"It was," Yuu agreed as he snuggled up to his boyfriend, "except Tagiru got lost."

"Too tired to argue!" Tagiru yelled from his room.

"I think the best part was the zip line," said Taiki.

"Taiki, that was scary!" Yuu said clinging onto his boyfriend's shirt.

"Aren't you glad you did it, though?" asked Taiki.

"Well, yeah. I am," the blond confessed.

"I yelled the best line!" Tagiru called from his room.

"Tagiru, 'This is Sparta' is overused!" Yuu yelled back to him.

"I thought yours was really cute," Taiki said giggling at his boyfriend.

"I just yelled the first thing that came to my head," the younger boy replied.

"You yelled a One Direction line that had nothing to do with zip lining."

"I'm sleepy."

"Bed time then?"

"Yeah. We'll need to get up early tomorrow so we can get a good spot for the parade." Yuu got up and let Taiki lead him to their room. Once in, the boys hung up their clothes and climbed into bed.

"Good night, Yuu," Taiki said as he spooned his boyfriend from behind.

"Good night, Taiki," Yuu whispered before drifting to sleep.

o o o

The next day, Xros Heart got up early and had a filling breakfast before heading out. It was Sunday, the day of the parade and the trio wanted to get a very good spot to watch it. As they made their way to Market Street, they walked down Lombard Street on Yuu's request.

"I've always wanted to see this street," the blond said to no one in particular.

"It's all twisty," Tagiru commented.

"That's why it's so famous," answered Yuu.

As the trio descended the steps on the side of Lombard Street, they could hear a car with all its windows rolled down pass by them with everyone inside it singing loudly.

"Hey Yuu. You speak English. What were they singing?" asked Tagiru.

"You probably don't want to know," Yuu said between glances at Taiki.

After they had finished at Lombard Street, they finally made their way to Market Street and found a spot on the shady side of the street.

"So what time does it start?" asked Tagiru.

"Ten, but we're nowhere near where the parade starts so we've got some time," answered Yuu.

"Greeeeaaaat. So now we get to stand here bored," responded Tagiru as he leaned on the railing.

"You could've asked Kiichi to come watch the parade with us. Then you wouldn't be bored," Taiki said.

Tagiru lifted his head and looked at Taiki. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hey, I hear motorcycles!" Yuu interjected. And indeed, his ears had heard true for coming down Market Street now were Dykes on Bikes.

"Is this the parade?" Tagiru yelled over the roar of the engines.

"Kind of. Dykes on Bikes always open the parade, so it's close!" Yuu yelled back.

"But isn't that like an offensive name for lesbians?" the younger goggle boy asked.

"Well yeah, it is but that's really what it's called, I swear! Wikipedia it!" Yuu replied.

The motorcycles roared past for a good ten minutes and then there was quiet for a while. Then finally the actual parade started. Every group that marched was headed by a banner; AIDS awareness, Bicycle Coalition, cheerleaders, gymnasts, the local universities, PFLAG, Straights for Gay Rights, BAAITS, the American Foundation for Equal Rights, Facebook, local newspapers, Virgin, Barefoot Wine and Bubbly, the Bookmobile, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, the It Gets Better Project, the bears, American Red Cross, EA, United Airlines, BART, the Trevor Project, the leather and bondage group, and even the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The celebrity grand marshals like Alex Newell got lots of cheers and waves.

Never in his whole life had Tagiru seen so many people gathered together to proudly celebrate who they were with such vigor and life. He was still surprised to see naked people even in the parade, but seeing them happy and proud made him realize that they were all comfortable with who they were.

"Hey, Tagiru." Yuu nudged him. "Tagiru? The parade's over."

"What? Already?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, how long were we standing here?"

"Four and a half hours."

"Wow, my legs are stiff."

"Mine too."

"Hey, why don't we go get some dinner before going home?" suggested Taiki.

"Good idea," said Yuu, "How about we eat at Pier 39?"

"Great idea, Yuu!" Taiki said with a smile.

A quick bus ride later and the boys found themselves at their destination.

"Yuu, what are you doing?" asked Tagiru.

"Calling Kiichi," was the blond's answer, "Seeing if he wants to join us for dinner before we head back."

"Kiichi?"

"Yeah. I'm sure he must have exhausted himself at the rail museum."

"He would," said Taiki.

Not long after, the three boys were sitting in a booth by a window inside Luigi's Pizzeria along with Kiichi. Taiki and Yuu sat together on one side while Tagiru found himself seated with the train enthusiast.

"How was the parade, guys?" Kiichi asked as he dug into his spaghetti and meatballs.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Yuu as he and Taiki shared a large pizza, "Like you have no idea! And best of all, everyone in this city looks at us without a second glance and sees us like any other couple."

"It really is great," Taiki agreed as he put his arm around Yuu and kissed him on the lips.

"Hey Tagiru, you haven't said a word," Kiichi noted.

"Hm?" Tagiru looked up from his pepperoni pizza. "Oh, yeah. Everything was great."

"Everything okay with him?" Kiichi asked the others.

"He's fine," answered Taiki, "I think he's just getting to know himself a little better."

"I'm not gay," Tagiru repeated, although with a less sure tone than last time.

After dinner, the boys paid for their food and hopped on Locomon. On the ride back, Yuu and Taiki fell asleep in their seat while Tagiru stared out the window. His gaze moved from the horizon to the train Digimon's cab where he could see Kiichi leaning out the window staring up at the stars. Tagiru's eyes stayed on him for a few minutes before the boy suddenly turned his head and he quickly turned his eyes back out to the sea.

_I'm not gay_, he thought to himself, _Am I?_

* * *

><p>The events of this short were based on my boyfriend's and my own experience at San Francisco gay pride this year.<p> 


	19. Carnival

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>Carnival<strong>

"Taiki, let's never go on that ride ever again!" Yuu yelled as he stumbled out the exit using Taiki as his support.

"I'm sorry, Yuu. I didn't know the Tilt-A-Whirl wouldn't agree with you," Taiki apologized.

"Let me just sit down for a little bit." Taiki helped Yuu over to a nearby bench and sat his boyfriend down before taking a seat beside him. Yuu leaned against the back and took in some deep breathes of air while sipping water from his bottle every now and then.

"Feeling better, yet?" asked Taiki.

"I think so," answered Yuu.

"Good." Taiki smiled. "Because there's still a lot for us to do." He stood up and offered his hand. Yuu looked up at him and smiled back before taking his boyfriend's hand and getting up before walking with him across the carnival grounds.

"Where are we going now?" Yuu inquired.

"I think we've had enough rides for now," Taiki replied, "Let's have a different kind of fun."

"Taiki! We're in public!"

"I meant games."

"Oh."

The boys walked across the fairgrounds to the midway, where hundred of people were challenging themselves to various games while carnies shouted at the top of their lungs to attract them to their respective booths.

"Oooh, that looks fun!" Yuu exclaimed as he looked at a pond with a bunch of rubber ducks floating in it.

"Pick a duck and get a prize!" the carnie said in an overenthusiastic tone. The blond watched as a little boy plucked one of the ducks out of the water and showed it to the carnie, who then reached into the bin behind him and pulled out a very small teddy bear.

"Way too easy," said Taiki, "It's one of those where you have to keep trading up."

"Yeah, you're right," his boyfriend replied.

"Hey there, young man!" another carnie said to Yuu, "Let me guess your weight! If I guess wrong, you win a prize!"

"I'm not telling you my weight!"

"Hey there! We got Skee Ball!" yet another carnie announced.

"Shoot water at the target to win!"

"Climb the ladder without flipping over and win a prize!"

"Knock down the milk bottles and win!"

"Hey, that looks like fun." Taiki pulled out his wallet and took out one thousand yen, which he handed to the carnie who in turn put three baseballs in front of him. The goggle boy picked one up and tossed it lightly in his hand as he carefully analyzed his target. It was six milk bottles stacked in a pyramid. The bottom row was spaced out so that if a ball were to hit the middle bottle, it would push the other two further out but not knock them down. Then hitting two bottles would leave one still standing.

Suddenly Taiki began to walk away. He moved as far to the right of the booth as possible and turned around. He aimed at his stack and threw the ball. It hit the surface of the table and bounced in between the right and middle bottles. The impact knocked them and the bottles on top of them off while sending the center bottle into the one on the left, knocking it off the table. "And that's how it's done."

"Yaaaaay Taiki!" Yuu cheered.

Taiki walked back to his spot and pointed up toward a large brown teddy bear about half Yuu's height with a big yellow ribbon tied around its neck in a bow. The carnie immediately fetched down the item and handed it over to the boy. Taiki smiled and turned to Yuu before handing over his prize.

"Thanks so much Taiki! I love it!" the blond squealed in excitement as he snuggled his new bear.

"I'm glad you do," Taiki said with a smile, "Wanna go get some food?"

"Sure!"

Two hotdogs and some drinks later, the happy couple walked the fairgrounds again with cotton candy in their hands. "Hey Yuu, how about one more ride?" asked Taiki.

"It's not going to be one of those rides that makes me sick, is it?" Yuu asked.

"No, I was thinking something else." As Taiki spoke these words, his eyes looked up toward the ferris wheel. Yuu gasped in happiness.

Moments later, the two of them were seated in one of the cars and waited before the ride was in full motion. Yuu sat with Taiki's arms around him. "This feels nice," the younger boy sighed happily as he relaxed in his boyfriend's.

"It's just you and me," Taiki said quietly.

"And Mr. Snuggle-pants," Yuu added as he looked at his bear on the other side of the car.

"Well I'm sure Mr. Snuggle-pants wouldn't mind if you and I decide to enjoy ourselves a little," Taiki said with a sly tone. Yuu tilted his head up and looked into his boyfriend's eyes. "I love you, Yuu."

"I love you too, Taiki." Taiki leaned in closer and pressed his lips against Yuu's. The blond sighed happily into the kiss as the ferris wheel turned with the sun setting in the distance.

* * *

><p>I've kinda fallen in love with the whole carnival date idea since that one chapter from <em> : The College Years<em>. In fact, this was one of the first ideas I had thought up when I started writing these shorts. And it's something I'd really love to do with my boyfriend someday.


	20. Birthday

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

Happy birthday Tim! I love you so much. This short is dedicated to you!

* * *

><p><strong>Birthday<strong>

Yuu awoke to the smell of bacon cooking in the kitchen. He turned over in bed and hugged his pillow even tighter as he tried to get a few more minutes of sleep. And a few more minutes was exactly what he got as Taiki came into his room with a tray in his hands.

"Good morning, birthday boy!" he said cheerfully.

Suddenly Yuu remembered what today was. It was his birthday! Quickly he sat up in bed and looked up as his boyfriend gave him a quick good morning kiss.

"Breakfast in bed for the birthday boy," Taiki said as he set the tray on the blond's lap. The plate was filled with bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes that were covered with blueberries, slices of fresh strawberries, and whipped cream. To the side was a glass of orange juice.

"It looks so good, Taiki!" Yuu exclaimed. He took a bite of the pancakes and instantly melted. "This is SOOOOOOOO yummy!"

"Eat up, baby," said Taiki, "Today's all about you and I want you to be at full strength for what we're gonna do today."

Yuu nodded and put a forkful of eggs in his mouth. As he ate, a certain mass of fur at the foot of his bed stirred. Miho raised her head and let out a big yawn. "Awww, good morning baby girl!" Yuu greeted happily as his cat stood up and stretched. He held his free hand out and Miho made her way across his bed and happily licked his fingers. Then she crawled up his chest and started licking his nose. Yuu giggled. "You're adorable Miho!"

While Yuu was eating and playing with Miho at the same time, Taiki left to go clean up in the kitchen. Making sure Yuu couldn't see from his room, he snuck to the fridge and opened it. "You'll be the biggest surprise of all," he said before closing the door and returning to the sink.

After finishing his breakfast, Yuu went about his morning routine and got dressed. By the time he was ready, he came out to find a large wrapped box on the kitchen table. "Taiki. Is that…?"

"Are you gonna open it?" asked Taiki. Yuu needed no further encouragement. He ripped off the wrapping paper and opened the box. His smile faded a little upon discovering that inside was another present. He unwrapped it in anticipation and opened the smaller box to find yet another gift!

"How many boxes are there?"

Now it was Taiki who was grinning. "Enough for me to have fun watching you get through them all."

Six more boxes later, Yuu finally arrived at the innermost gift: a small envelop. He opened it and took out a birthday card. On the front was a small kitten. "'I have something to ask you,'" he read aloud. He opened it and read the inside. "'Was it hard to stay adorable all these years?' Awwwwwww, Taiki!"

"Check the rest of the envelope," the goggle boy said.

Yuu turned back to the envelope and held it over his hand as he shook it. Two small paper items fell out and he read them. He stumbled back. "T-Taiki…. These are One Direction concert tickets! And they're platinum seats!"

"I take it you like them?" Taiki asked, his grin still perfectly etched on his face.

"I love them!" Yuu ran over to his boyfriend and threw his arms around him before pressing his lips against his.

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else," Taiki whispered into Yuu's ear. The blond giggled and kissed his boyfriend again.

"I love you Taiki."

"I love you too, Yuu."

The boy stood in the living room a while longer in each other's arms before Taiki finally proposed that they get moving. Yuu agreed and the two of them put their shoes on and left the apartment, Taiki making sure to replace the spare key back in its hiding spot before heading to the elevator. As they arrived in the lobby, Yuu checked his mailbox and found an envelope from his parents. He opened it and found that they had sent him money for his birthday.

"I wish mom and dad could be here today," he thought out loud.

"I know, Yuu. But they still think about you no matter where they are or how busy they are. They love you," Taiki assured him.

Yuu nodded and put the money away. The boys headed out and took the train to the mall where Yuu spent the money he had just received on clothes and accessories. Though he did wish his parents could celebrate with him, he was happy to have his boyfriend there. Taiki always made everything better even when things seemed like they would never work out. The goggle boy wasn't just a miracle worker among the sports teams; he could also do wonders for Yuu's heart.

Lunchtime approached and Taiki took Yuu to a restaurant in the mall where they treated themselves to the buffet. The younger boy couldn't help but fill his plate with teriyaki chicken while Taiki helped himself with his own favorites. Following their meal, the boys went to the theatre to catch a movie.

"How did you know I always wanted to see this movie?" asked Yuu.

"Gee, I have no idea!" Taiki said playfully fully aware of the very obvious hints that Yuu had been dropping him for the past two weeks. They bought their tickets and purchased their popcorn and drinks before finding a spot in the back of the theatre. No sooner had they sat down, Taiki put his arm around Yuu and the blond leaned against him. They waited until the lights dimmed before the former snuck his boyfriend a kiss. Yuu sighed happily and nuzzled up with the older boy.

After the movie was over, Taiki took Yuu by the hand and went with him to the park for an afternoon walk. "Taiki, this has been the best birthday ever," the blond said happily.

"The day's not over yet, Yuu," Taiki replied.

They found a tree and Yuu sat down while Taiki went to go buy them something to eat. The blond leaned his back against the trunk and thought about all that had happened that day. The breakfast, the mall, the lunch, the movie, and now the walk in the park; all things that Yuu loved. He sighed happily. Taiki really was the best boyfriend he could have ever asked for. Moments later the boy in question returned carrying two ice cream cones.

"I got you your favorites," said Taiki as he handed Yuu a double scoop of strawberry banana and mint chip.

"Awwww, you're so sweet," the younger boy said fondly.

Taiki sat down with his own double scoop of cookies and crème and chocolate. "I love you, Yuu."

Yuu smiled. "I love you too, Taiki."

"You're sweeter than the ice cream you're holding."

Yuu gushed. "D'aaaaawwwwww! You're just the absolute best, Taiki!"

"So are you."

"Stop making this about me!"

"It's your birthday. This whole day is all about you."

"Okay yes, that is true. But you always turn this to make it about-" Yuu never finished his sentence as Taiki quickly and suddenly cut him off with a passionate kiss. They broke off when Yuu could feel his ice cream start to drip down his fingers. "We should…probably eat our ice cream," he said between breaths.

"I think that's a good idea," Taiki agreed.

The boys ate their ice cream while continually casting loving glances at each other. When they had finished, they continued walking through the park until it was dinnertime, upon which Taiki decided it was time to take Yuu home for dinner.

"You've made this the best birthday ever, Taiki," the younger boy said as they approached the door.

Taiki took the spare key from its hiding spot and unlocked the door. "Your birthday's not over yet." He opened the door.

"SURPRISE!"

Yuu jumped back in surprise to find his living room had been decorated and standing in it were Tagiru, Nene, Zenjirou, Akari, Kiriha, Ryouma, Ren, Airu, Hideaki, and Kiichi.

"Happy birthday Yuu!" Tagiru shouted loudly while holding a box wrapped in bright red paper.

"Oh my god!" Yuu gasped as he covered his mouth. "You guys… You all…?"

"It was your boyfriend's idea," said Airu.

Yuu looked over at Taiki. "All this…was your idea?"

Taiki smiled. "Just enjoy your party Yuu." Yuu suddenly threw his arms around him and kissed his boyfriend. "I love you so much!" And with that he grabbed a cup of punch off the kitchen counter.

Two hours into the party following games and food, Yuu sat down on the couch and opened all his presents. Nene had gotten him some of the latest fashions from Hong Kong, Akari had bought him a gift card for Yuu's favorite clothing store, and Zenjirou's gift was a jacket that was totally the wrong size. Ryouma, Ren, and Airu had all pitched into to buy a gift together and Kiichi had a train model painted in Yuu's favorite colors.

"Here Yuu, this is from me." Tagiru handed his gift over and Yuu opened it.

"Oh wow! Tagiru, this is beautiful!" the young blond exclaimed as he held up a handmade picture frame.

"I made it myself. I thought you could use it to hold your favorite picture of you and Taiki-san."

"Tagiru, you're the best friend ever." Yuu got up and hugged Tagiru.

"Well now that that's done, who's up for cake?" asked Taiki. He opened the fridge and took out a yellow and white cake. He lit the candles and brought it over to the living room, setting it down on the coffee table in front of his boyfriend. Yuu gasped. On the cake was the picture of him and Taiki from the school winter formal.

"Happy birthday Yuu."

"Blow out the candles!" Tagiru cheered, "Make a wish!" Yuu inhaled deeply and blew out all the candles in one breath, prompting everybody to clap. Taiki served up the cake and everybody sat down to enjoy its deliciousness.

When the party finally hit its conclusion, everybody went home leaving Yuu alone with Taiki. "Why don't you go head to bed, Yuu?" the goggle boy asked, "I'll clean up."

"Thanks sweetie," Yuu mumbled. He got up and walked into his room while Taiki started to clean up after the party. The young blond laid down on his bed and Miho came up to him and meowed.

"Hey baby girl," he said with a smile. Realizing he still hadn't fed her, he picked up a can of Fancy Feast and pulled open the top. He spooned out half of its contents into her food bowl and then went out to the kitchen to store the rest in the fridge.

"Everything okay, Yuu?" Taiki asked as he scrubbed the dishes.

"Yeah. Just had to give Miho her dinner," answered Yuu. After putting the cat food away, he returned to his room and watched as Miho ate. When she finished, he picked her up and lay back down on his bed with his cat on his chest.

"You're such a good girl, aren't you Miho?" Miho responded by licking his nose several times. "Awwww, I love your kisses!" He continued playing with her for a while longer until Taiki finally entered the bedroom, finally finished with cleaning. Miho turned her head upon his entry and meowed. Taiki sat down on the edge of the bed and scratched under her chin, much to her delight.

"She's adorable. Just like you," he said.

"Awww, Taiki…" Yuu said tiredly. Taiki smiled as he took off his goggles and then pulled off his shirt. "This has been the best birthday ever," Yuu said for the third time that day.

"The day's not over yet," Taiki said yet again.

"Taiki, not now…" Yuu moaned, "As much as I love you and want to thank you for everything you've done for me today, I'm way too tired for sex."

"We won't, honey. I just thought you'd like to cuddle before bed." Yuu looked up and smiled.

"Thanks Taiki." He got up and put Miho down on the bed. "I'm going to go shower and brush my teeth."

"I'll brush mine in the other bathroom then," Taiki replied.

Twenty minutes later, Yuu returned in his sleepwear and he and Taiki slipped under the covers. Yuu could feel his boyfriend wrap his arm over him from behind as they laid on their sides.

"I love you, Taiki."

"I love you too." Taiki leaned closer and gently kissed Yuu's neck. "Happy birthday Yuu."

* * *

><p>I don't think any footnotes are really needed for this one.<p> 


	21. Miho

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>Miho<strong>

Yuu was happily cuddling with Taiki on the couch in his apartment as the goggle boy watched the latest episode of _Zyuren Sentai Kyoryuger_. He loved these lazy days because it usually meant it the two of them could spend the whole day doing whatever they felt like. It didn't matter what they did as long as the two of them could cuddle like they were now. The blond gently nuzzled his boyfriend and sighed happily as he leaned his chest on his shoulder. "I love you Taiki."

Taiki smiled, "I love you too Yuu."

As the boys continued to snuggle, Miho suddenly came out of Yuu's room. "Hi Miho!" the younger boy greeted. In response, Miho leapt onto the couch and crawled into his lap. She turned around a few times before finally settling down with her eyes closed. "Awwww, look at her Taiki!"

Taiki looked over and smiled. "She's so adorable."

"Yes she is." Yuu gently stroked his cat's soft fur, causing her to illicit a light purr. "I still can't believe you got me her for Christmas."

"Well she just reminds me of you in so many ways," Taiki answered.

"How so?" Yuu asked questioningly.

"Well for one, she's adorable. She's also super sweet and absolutely loves to cuddle."

Yuu was starting to blush. "Oh stop!"

"No, I won't. Because every word of it is true."

If he weren't pinned down by his furry little bundle of joy, Yuu would've flailed his arms in glee. But watching Miho sleep in his lap made him feel really happy. He sighed and leaned back against Taiki.

"I couldn't be any happier," he said, "I have you and Miho and that's all I could ever ask for."

"I'm glad," Taiki said smiling still.

Miho suddenly stood up from Yuu's lap and stretched out her legs. She turned around to face him and licked his nose and cheek several times. "I love you too Miho."

"Mew." Miho walked off Yuu and climbed up to the back of the couch. The blond suddenly had an idea. He dug around the couch area for a moment and finally pulled out a crinkle ball. As soon as it made the slightest noise, Miho's head turned.

"Go get it girl!" Yuu tossed the crinkle ball across the living room and Miho immediately gave chase. She slid a little bit on the hardwood floor as she came to a stop and knocked her toy under a table. She looked underneath it and stuck out her paw to try to get it out. After thirty seconds with unsuccessful results, she lost interest and went back to the couch. She leapt on and settled down on the back next to Yuu. Her eyes looked toward the window.

"What's she doing?" asked Taiki.

"Just staring out the window. She likes doing that," answered Yuu.

"No, looks like she's following something around the house." Taiki's words caused the younger boy to look around and finally he saw a small object flying around.

"Is that… Is that a BEE?!"

"No, just a fly," Taiki affirmed.

Miho suddenly jumped off the couch and crouched down. She watched the fly carefully, her eyes following its every move. Several minutes passed before she started wiggling her butt and the pounced. Her paw caught the fly and she quickly pinned it down. She played around with it for a moment before stuffing it inside her mouth.

"Ewwww. That's gross," Taiki commented.

"It is, but she keeps the bugs away."

Once Miho had finished eating her bug, she sat down and started cleaning herself beginning with her paws. Yuu watched in utter happiness in his boyfriend's arms. "You make me so happy Taiki. You and Miho together. I don't know what I'd do without either of you."

"Just think, Yuu. When we're old enough, we'll have our own house and it'll just be you, me, and Miho," said Taiki.

Yuu sighed. "That would be so wonderful."

Miho finished cleaning herself and jumped back onto the couch and settled down in Yuu's lap. The blond boy looked down as she cuddled up with him and fell asleep.

"I love you Miho."

"Mew."

"And I love you to, Taiki."

Taiki kissed his boyfriend. "Love you back."

* * *

><p>Miho was inspired by my boyfriend's cat, who is just the sweetest darling ever! She's adorable and just incredibly considerate. One time I had my drink on a narrow ledge an1d she went out of her way to maneuver around it so she wouldn't knock it over. She's such a good little girl.<p> 


	22. Winter

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>Winter<strong>

"Are we there yet?" asked Tagiru.

"No," Yuu answered.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"Damnit Tagiru! I said no!"

"But I have to peeeeeeeeeee!"

"You should've gone before we left! Taiki, back me up here please?"

"I'm not getting involved," the brunet replied, "We should be thankful your sister is taking us up to a cabin for the winter break so we can experience a real white winter."

"Oh my gosh, this is going to be so much fun!" Yuu squealed in utter delight.

"Thanks again for inviting me!" Kiichi exclaimed.

"Of course! Anytime Kiichi," said Taiki, "You always take us places, we thought we should take you somewhere for a change."

"Here we are!" the driver announced as the van came to a stop. The kids piled out and looked at the cabin where they would be spending the next few days. It wasn't a log cabin like most of them had expected. It was actually quite modern with large windows and a very contemporary chimney. Upon entry they could see that it was very spacious. They entered into a large living room with a couch and several large comfortable chairs. A large stone fireplace stood against a wall with a large stuffed moose head hanging above it. Separated from the living room by a counter was the kitchen which had all the essentials. A large dining table with eight chairs surrounding it stood adjacent to it. There was a bathroom on the other side and above it was a flight of stairs leading up to the second floor with doors leading to two bedrooms and another bathroom.

"Yahoooooo!" Tagiru cried as he ran inside. Suddenly the boy stopped dead in his tracks and stared up in shock.

"What's wrong, Tagiru?" Yuu asked.

"Why is there a moose in here?" asked Tagiru, "It's so scary!"

"It's just a stuffed moose, Tagiru," Taiki pointed out.

"IT'S LOOKING AT ME!" yelled Tagiru.

"It's dead," said Yuu.

"EVEN CREEPIER!"

Yuu sighed and turned around toward Nene as she was coming out of the van. "Thanks for inviting us out here, sis."

"You're welcome," answered Nene, "It's nice to take a break from the idol lifestyle once in a while but it gets lonely if I'm all by myself."

"So what'll the sleeping arrangements be like?" asked Taiki as he wiped his shoes off upon entry.

"I'll get one room and you four get the other one."

"Wait. Why do the four of us have to share a room while you get one all to yourself?" asked Yuu.

"Because it's just not proper," answered Nene, "Besides, your room's big enough and it has two double beds."

"So everyone gets to partner up for bed," Yuu thought aloud.

"I know who I'm sleeping with," Taiki said with a grin as he pinched his boyfriend's butt, causing him to squeal in surprise.

"Hold on," the blond suddenly said as a realization dawned on him, "that means Tagiru and Kiichi will have to…" He looked at his sister. "You set this whole thing up, didn't you?"

"Honestly, I think the only ones who don't know it yet are those two," said Nene.

"Tagiru, let's go have a look upstairs," said Kiichi from the foot of the staircase.

"But that means going near the creepy moose!" Tagiru protested.

Yuu decided to break the tension by reaching into one of the grocery bags they had brought with them and pulling out a potato. "Hey Tagiru! Go get it!" He threw the spud up and it arced over the railing and landed on the second floor.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" asked Tagiru.

"There might be a potato button on the microwave," said Yuu.

"Out of my way!" Tagiru yelled as he bolted for the stairs.

"Never fails," Yuu said smugly.

"Hey, can we play in the snow later?" Tagiru asked from upstairs.

"We can go play after lunch," said Yuu, "Which I am going to go start."

"I'll get us settled in then," Taiki offered as he grabbed his boyfriend's bag and went upstairs with Kiichi. Tagiru was already in their room when they arrived and he had apparently already claimed one of the beds as his own.

"These are comfy!" he exclaimed as Taiki set his and Yuu's bags on the other bed. "So what's gonna happen now?"

"Yuu's making lunch and then we're gonna go out," Taiki answered.

"Where can I set my bag?" asked Kiichi.

"Where are you sleeping?" Tagiru inquired.

"With you."

"Ah. Wait, what?"

"Well it makes sense," Taiki explained, "Yuu and I are sleeping together so that leaves you and Kiichi."

"But what about the other room?" Tagiru protested.

"Nene's got that all to herself," said Taiki.

"Why?"

"Don't argue with someone who's treating you to this trip," was all Taiki would say in response as he sorted through his bag. As the boys got settled, time passed until eventually Yuu called them down for lunch.

"I figured we could all use something hot if we're gonna play outside later," he said, "so I made everyone hot soup and sandwiches."

Taiki, Tagiru, Kiichi, and Nene sat down at the table and Yuu joined his boyfriend before they all dug into their lunch. After they finished, Nene offered to clean the dishes while everyone went outside. Tagiru was very visibly excited as he zipped up his blue parka.

"Wait just a second, Tagiru," Yuu said stopping the boy in his tracks, "You're not going out there like that." He walked up to Tagiru and pulled his hood up over his head before tying the drawstrings together. "There. And don't forget your mittens."

"Yes, _mom_," Tagiru answered.

Taiki finished zipping up his red jacket and wrapping his scarf around his neck before he helped Yuu put on his yellow coat and matching white-striped scarf. "You look cute," he whispered.

Yuu blushed. "Oh Taiki…" He looked up at his boyfriend who pulled him in close and kissed him.

"Yahooooo! Snow! Here I come! WAAAAUUUUUGH!" Tagiru had taken his first step outside and ended up slipping on some ice and plunging head-first into a pile of snow.

Yuu looked out the door and shook his head. "Oh Tagiru…"

"I think he'll be okay," Taiki affirmed him.

"I'm okay!" Tagiru declared as he stood up and leaned against the wall a little too suddenly, causing snow to fall off the roof and land on his head. Yuu couldn't help but giggle.

"Okay, that is pretty funny," he admitted.

Before long Taiki, Yuu, Tagiru, and Kiichi were outside frolicking in the winter wonderland. They started off standing in a circle and catching snowflakes with their tongues. But every time Yuu got one Taiki would always ask if he could taste it and he found that he just couldn't say no. "Bleh! You guys! Get a room!"

"We're already sharing it with you. Would you rather we leave you and Kiichi out on the couch?" asked Taiki. Tagiru opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it when the amount of snowflakes going in outnumbered the amount of words coming out.

"Can we make snowmen?" asked Kiichi, "I've always wanted to make one."

"I think that sounds fun," Yuu said with a smile.

The boys set to work. Taiki and Yuu worked together on one snowman while Kiichi and Tagiru worked on another. "I'm gonna build the biggest snowman ever!" the younger goggle boy declared.

"First you gotta stop piling more snow onto that mound," Yuu pointed out as he rolled his snowball.

"It got stuck," was Tagiru's response.

"Give it up," was Yuu's.

"Here Tagiru, you can help me roll mine," Kiichi offered. Tagiru looked up at the train enthusiast and nodded. He placed his hands beside his and the two started rolling the snowball together. Time passed and the two boys had completed two balls which they had begun stacking on top of each other. Tagiru took a glimpse at the other boys and saw that Taiki and Yuu had already completed their snowman and were now beginning to decorate it.

"Hey Kiichi," he said with a mischievous grin. "Watch this." He bent down and gathered up a handful of snow, shaping it into the rough form of a baseball. He took aim at his target, wound back his arm, and launched the snowball forward, striking Yuu on the back of the head.

"Eek!" Yuu spun around and shook the snow out of his hair. "Tagiru!"

Tagiru was laughing. "Gotcha good, Yuu!"

"Oh yeah?" Yuu made his own snowball and threw it, but Tagiru ducked and laughed some more. "You missed!"

"Let me take care of this," Taiki offered. He gathered up a large handful of snow and walked over to the still laughing Tagiru. Kiichi watched and wisely decided to take a few steps back. Taiki stopped in front of Tagiru and looked at him for a moment before he pulled his pants forward and stuffed the snow down.

"AHHHHHHHHH! COLD!" Tagiru shrieked. Now it was Yuu's turn to laugh. Taiki was grinning big himself when a snowball hit his face and he turned to look at Kiichi who had another one ready.

"Oh, it is on!" Taiki swore. Kiichi lobbed the other snowball forward but Taiki pulled Tagiru in front of him and it hit him in the face instead.

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" With the snow war declared, everybody started throwing snowballs at each other. The snowmen were used for cover and quickly became snow fort walls. Behind their defenses, Yuu made the snowballs while Taiki threw them. On the other side, Tagiru and Kiichi made their own ammunition and threw them as soon as it was done.

"Hey Kiichi, cover me," said Tagiru as he held two snowballs in his hands. Without warning he leapt onto the wall of the snow fort. "Take this!" Taiki suddenly threw another snowball and hit Tagiru in the crotch. Kiichi winced as Tagiru let out a shrill cry and then fell crotch-first onto the all of the snow fort onto which he had leapt mere seconds ago.

Taiki saw this and held up his hand. "Truce!" he yelled. Kiichi poked his head over the wall and held up his own hand.

"Truce!" he agreed.

The boys came out and walked over to Tagiru and waited for him to recover. When he was finally able to stand and walk, the others helped him inside where they relaxed until dinner. That night they enjoyed a hot beef stew and afterwards everybody sat around the fireplace with steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Yuu and Taiki were cuddled together in a large chair with a blanket thrown over them. Tagiru and Kiichi sat on the couch together while Nene sat by herself.

"This is nice," Yuu said with a happy sigh. "Hot chocolate, a roaring fire, and just being in the company of friends and loved ones."

"It's missing something," Tagiru said, "Oh, I know!"

"What?" asked Nene.

Tagiru got up and walked upstairs and then came back with a bag of popcorn kernels and a popcorn popper. "I didn't know you knew how to make popcorn on an open fire," said Kiichi.

"It's like making it in the microwave," Tagiru replied as he started pouring kernels into the popper.

"Tagiru, I don't think it's the same," Taiki pointed out, "And don't you think you're put too much in already?"

"The key to making good popcorn is to fill it up all the way," answered Tagiru as he emptied out the entire bag. Taiki opened his mouth to say something but Yuu quickly stopped him.

"I wanna watch. This looks like fun," he whispered.

Tagiru closed the lid and began shaking the popper over the fire. Yuu leaned back against Taiki and sipped his hot chocolate before pulling the blanket up over his shoulders for more warmth. He closed his eyes as he rested his head against his boyfriend's chest. He could feel himself nodding off to sleep; he was so comfortable nestled in his favorite cuddle position with his lover. Taiki could feel the blond getting comfortable and placed his arm over him under the blanket. Yuu let out a happy sigh and nuzzled him happily.

"I love you, Taiki."

"I love you too, Yuu."

POP!

"Here we go!" Tagiru announced as she shook the popper. More popping came from within. "Oh yeah, it's coming!"

Kiichi turned to Taiki and Yuu. "Should I be worried?"

"I'm gonna suggest taking cover," said Taiki. Without hesitation, Kiichi quickly ducked behind the couch.

"You guys are exaggerating," Tagiru said, "Nothing's gonna hap-" Popcorn suddenly exploded from the popper and spread all over the living room. Tagiru just knelt there by the fireplace holding the now-empty popper over the fire with popcorn cover his entire body.

"Don't. Say. Anything."

"Don't. Need. To," Yuu answered smugly.

"I think that's enough excitement for one night," Taiki declared, "I'm gonna go shower and head to bed."

"I'll join you," replied Yuu. Throwing the blanket off themselves, the two of them put their mugs in the sink and walked upstairs hand-in-hand.

"Don't make a mess in there!" Tagiru yelled.

"They wouldn't really, would they?" Kiichi asked apprehensively.

"Only when they're alone," Nene answered.

o o o

Tagiru's snoring resounded through the room, much to Yuu's chagrin. His boyfriend was sound asleep next to him, but the blond was wide awake thanks to the noise escaping from the boy in the other bed. _Oh my god!_ he thought to himself, _How can anyone sleep through this?_ Seeing as trying to fall asleep at this moment would be futile, Yuu sat up in bed and looked toward the window. The sky was exceptionally dark since they were no longer in the city. But it was in the dim light of the moon that he realized he wasn't alone. Kiichi was also awake and lying in bed staring at the ceiling. The train enthusiast suddenly noticed he was being watched and he sat up and turned to Yuu.

"Does he always snore this loud?" he whispered.

"I wouldn't know. I've never had to sleep in the same room with him before," Yuu answered.

Kiichi sighed. "So what now?"

Yuu shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even know how Taiki can sleep through that noise. I'm really sorry you have to deal with Tagiru."

"N-n-no, it's fine. I'm okay with it."

"I'm also sorry for all the other stupid things he's done," Yuu apologized.

"No, it's okay," Kiichi replied.

"Tagiru's heart is always in the right place, but he's just such an idiot a lot of times," continued Yuu, "He does so much without thinking and it usually never ends well."

"I don't mind it," said Kiichi.

"Wait a second." The blond looked straight at Kiichi. "You like him, don't you?"

"Wha?! N-n-n-no, no I don't!" The rosy-cheeked boy protested as a blush started to creep up on his face.

Yuu couldn't help but grin. "Yeeeeeaaaaaah, come on. Admit it. You like Tagiru, don't you Kiichi?"

"No! Not at all! I don't find him attractive like that at all!"

"Uh-huh. Are you suuuuuuuure?" Yuu asked.

"Of course!" Kiichi argued, "I don't think he's sexy at all. Even if his T-shirt's V-neck shows off his chest. Or the way his cheeks are always so rosy. Or even when he falls into a fountain and climbs out with his shirt soaked…clinging to his…body…"

"Hey Kiichi, I want you to imagine something for me," said Yuu, "I want you to picture Tagiru naked."

Kiichi turned to look at the boy sleeping next to him and his cheeks suddenly got even redder and he could start feeling his pyjama pants getting tighter.

"Ha! I knew it!" Yuu said with the biggest grin ever. "You DO like Tagiru!"

"Please don't tell anyone, Yuu," Kiichi begged.

"Would you say Tagiru toots your horn?" Yuu asked slyly.

"Yuu, please!"

"Don't worry. I promise," Yuu whispered, "I know it's tough admitting you like another boy."

"How did things work out for you and Taiki?" asked Kiichi.

"I got backed into a corner and I just suddenly blurted it out and Taiki overheard it," Yuu confessed.

"Well that looks like it went well."

"You have no idea how scared I was when I found out Taiki had overheard. But then he just walked over and kissed me."

"Wow. Everything worked out for you." Kiichi sighed. "You're lucky."

"Kiichi, it wasn't easy for me and it won't be any easier for you." Yuu got up and sat down beside Kiichi. "But you know what? You don't have to rush. You tell him when you feel the time is right."

Kiichi looked over at Yuu. "Thanks Yuu."

Yuu smiled. "Of course."

"So is there any way I can let him know how I feel without telling him?" asked Kiichi.

"I have an idea," Yuu said, "I'll let you know in the morning. But right now, let's TRY to get some sleep."

"Thanks, Yuu." And with that said, the two boys returned to bed and tried their best to block out Tagiru's snoring as they went to sleep.

o o o

The next morning after breakfast, the boys all went sledding while Nene decided to relax with a new book she had bought.

"First one down the hill wins!" Tagiru yelled as he pushed off on his snow racer and slid down the hill.

"Tagiru!" Taiki yelled, "Watch out for that-"

_**WHAM!**_ "OWWWWWW!"

"…tree." Taiki sighed slid down on his own sled to see if he was alright. Yuu's eyes met with Kiichi's and the blond gave him a nod. The train enthusiast nodded back and went inside while Yuu slid down the hill to join the others.

"You really gotta watch where you're going," Taiki said as he helped Tagiru up.

"I so woulda won if it hadn't been for that stupid tree!" Tagiru exclaimed, "My racer has flames on it!"

"How does that work?" asked Taiki as Yuu arrived.

"Huh?"

"How does painting flames on your racer make it go faster?"

"It just does!" The other boys looked at Tagiru in confusion. "It's been scientifically proven that painting flames on something will make it go faster!"

Yuu looked puzzled. "Where did you even- How- Never mind." Yuu gave up. He knew Tagiru would never make sense.

"Hey, who's up for some lunch?" asked Taiki.

"I think that's a great idea!" Yuu agreed.

With their sleds in tow, the three boys trekked back up the hill. When they arrived back at the cabin, they tied them up to the post and walked inside, dropping their coats off on the coat tree by the door. Taiki and Yuu enjoyed some grilled cheese while Tagiru wondered what he would be having.

"Here you go, Tagiru." Kiichi came up to Tagiru and brought him a steaming hot baked potato. In that instant, the younger goggle boy's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

What…What is it?" he asked.

"It's a potato."

Tagiru poked it with his fork. "This is a potato?"

"Yeah. I baked it in the microwave for you."

"Ohhhhhh. So THIS is what a potato looks like when you finish cooking it!" exclaimed Tagiru.

Meanwhile Yuu watched from the table where he and Taiki were eating and smiled. The goggle boy looked at him from his sandwich for a moment and then followed his eyes. "What're you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing," Yuu replied, "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Things to come." Taiki put down his sandwich and put his arm around Yuu before pulling him into a love-filled kiss.

* * *

><p>Written for my boyfriend on request. I love you Tim!<p>

Also, _Yu-Gi-Oh! GNext_ returns in March! (If you leave a review, please do not make it entirely about that)


	23. Catsitting

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>Catsitting<strong>

Shoutmon, Gumdramon, and Damemon sat in a semicircle watching the small cat sleep on the couch. "Soooo, what are we supposed to do?" asked the Digimon King.

"I think we're supposed to give it food and change its diaper?" Gumdramon guessed.

"Dame, dame. That's a human baby," Damemon berated the purple Digimon.

The three of them continued to watch Miho as she remained curled up in a ball with her eyes closed and her tail up against her nose.

"How are we supposed to watch this cat when it won't do anything?" Shoutmon asked.

Suddenly Miho's mouth opened wide and the Digimon yelled and ducked behind the coffee table. She stood up and stretched out her legs before turning around, lying back down, and going back to sleep.

"Hehe. Okay, false alarm. Nothing to worry about," said Shoutmon, although his voice had absolutely no confidence in it.

Gumdramon turned to Damemon. "You live with Yuu. You should know how to take care of a cat."

"Dame! Dame! Sure I've watched Yuu do it but I've never done it before," Dameon confessed.

"Then just what the heck are we supposed to do?!" demanded Shoutmon.

The three Digimon all stood up and looked back at this sleeping cat. "Maybe she'll keep sleeping?" Gumdramon suggested, "If she keeps sleeping then we won't have to do anything."

"You really think that'll work?" asked Shoutmon as the trio turned around.

"Absolutely!" the purple dragon replied. "Sleeping cat means she's not doing anything else. We'll be just fine! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Gumdramon felt something suddenly brush up again his tail and he jumped high into the air. Shoutmon and Damemon looked down to see Miho coming out from under the coffee table.

"It's okay! She was just rubbing against you," Damemon said as he looked up at the purple dragon, "You can come down now!"

Gumdramon looked down from the lighting fixture onto which he was holding for dear life. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Come on back down," Shoutmon urged.

Gumdramon thought for a moment. "Nah, I think I'll be fine up here."

"He's gonna fall," Damemon pointed out.

"He'll be fine," replied Shoutmon.

"He's falling."

The purple Digimon suddenly hit the floor head-first. "Ow."

The other two Digimon turned back to Miho as she walked around the apartment. She stopped by the corner of the couch and lowered herself to the floor, wiggling her butt as she did so. "Looks like she's finally going back to sleep," sighed Damemon. Suddenly the cat tore off down the hall toward Yuu's room.

"WHAUGH! Damemon, what did you do?" shouted Shoutmon.

"I didn't do anything!" Damemon swore. Miho suddenly came running back and stopped before hitting the couch before she turned around and ran away again.

"Something must've scared her. We gotta calm her down!" Shoutmon declared.

"What's your plan?" Damemon inquired.

"I'll try to calm her down by singing," Shoutmon announced with a grin.

Damemon looked at him. "You call that singing?"

"I-" "Really?" "I-" "Really?" "Yeah-" "Really?" "But-" "Really?" "Hey, I'd like to see you try to do better."

"I could," Damemon said, "At least I don't sing like a great big loudmouth."

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK! I'M AS QUIET AS A LIBRARY!"

Gumdramon ran over to the other Digimon. "What're we gonna do?"

"I dunno!" Shoutmon cried panicking.

"This is dame, dame!" Damemon shrieked.

"What's going on out here?" The three turned around and saw Cutemon coming out of one of the rooms.

"Cutemon, what're you doing here?" asked Shoutmon.

"I volunteered to help Yuu take care of his cat for the weekend," the little pink Digimon answered.

"What do you know about taking care of cats?" the three asked in unison.

"Just watch." Cutemon stepped forward. "C'mere, Miho! C'mere!" Miho came to a stop at the couch and walked over. "Who's a good girl? Yeah, you are!" He rubbed her gently and Miho closed her eyes and started to purr. "Awwwwww, you're sweet." Yuu's cat suddenly leaned in closer and started licking Cutemon. "Ahahaha! That tickled!"

Five minutes of affection later, Miho leapt up to her cat tree and settled down on top for a nap. Cutemon smiled and turned to Shoutmon, Damemon, and Gumdramon.

"You see, guys? THAT'S HOW YOU TAKE CARE OF A CAT!"

* * *

><p><em>Yu-Gi-Oh! GNext<em> returns **March 21, 2014**.


	24. ToQger

**Disclaimer:** _Digimon Xros Wars _and all official characters are property of Toei Animation.

* * *

><p><strong>ToQger<strong>

Movie night had been a huge hit. Taiki, Yuu, Tagiru, and Kiichi had spent six hours last night watching one movie after another. Yuu found Tagiru's choice in film to be cringe-worthy, but Taiki had managed to power through it due to his mind being less on the movie and more on the interaction between Tagiru and Kiichi. By the time they were finished, it was past three o'clock in the morning and the boys decided to call it a night. Taiki and a very sleepy Yuu went upstairs to Taiki's room while Tagiru and Kiichi crashed in the living room.

It was almost noon when Taiki finally woke up. He looked down at his boyfriend, who was still fast asleep in his arms. He smiled and kissed him gently before shuffling himself out of bed and heading downstairs. Tagiru was fast asleep sprawled out on the floor while Kiichi was all bundled up in a blanket on the couch. Taiki went to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal before sitting down at the end of the couch and turning on the TV. The sudden noise caused Kiichi to wake up and he yawned.

"Morning," Taiki greeted.

"Mmmmm, what are you doing up, Taiki-san?" Kiichi asked.

"It's Sunday, so my shows would've been on this morning," Taiki answered as he browsed through his DVR recordings.

"What shows?"

"Super Sentai and Kamen Rider," was Taiki's answer.

"I've heard about those shows, but I've never actually seen them," said Kiichi.

"Wanna watch with me?" asked Taiki.

"Maybe another time," Kiichi answered.

"There are trains."

"YES! Oh god, YES!" Kiichi bolted up from the couch and got himself a bowl of cereal as well before sitting back down. He paused for a moment and looked down at Tagiru. "Won't we be disturbing him, though?"

"Nah. Tagiru could sleep through an earthquake," said Taiki as he started playing his first recording. The Superhero Time opening started up and then the first episode began. The first thing to appear on screen were the multicolored trains, which instantly hooked Kiichi.

"What is this show called?" the train enthusiast asked.

"_Ressha Sentai ToQger_," Taiki answered.

"What's it about?"

"A five-person team has been recruited to fight the villains called the Shadow Line, who are trying to create darkness out of people's hearts," explained Taiki, "Each of those little trains lets them use a different train. They later get joined by a sixth ranger, who also has his own train."

"This sounds fun!" Kiichi exclaimed.

The theme song suddenly started playing and Taiki set his bowl down on the coffee table. As soon as the lyrics began, he started singing along. "Go for it! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! _Hateshinai senro no mukou gawa. Kagayaiteiru mono wa nandarou!? Dokidoki keiyu no ressha ni note. Tashikame ni ikō._" Kiichi could only watch the screen as he saw the numerous trains appear before him.

The two of them sat there and watched as the plot of the episode unfolded. About halfway through, Yuu came downstairs and put his arms around his boyfriend. "You left me alone in bed."

"Good morning to you too," Taiki greeted. He turned his head back and kissed Yuu.

"Watching your tokusatsu?"

"Yep."

"I guess I'll join you." Yuu went to the kitchen and returned with his own bowl of cereal. Taiki scooted over to the middle of the couch and let the blond sit down beside him. He put his arm around the younger boy and held him close as the three of them watched the show while Tagiru slept.

As the plot continued, they watched the ToQgers henshin and fight off the Shadow Line monster and foot soldiers. The combat was then followed by the death of the monster which resulted in it growing into a giant, thus prompting the ToQgers to combine their Resshas together. Kiichi was practically kneeling on the coffee table when he saw this and watched with such incredible intensity as nonstop jets of steam shot out of his nose.

When the episode was finally over, the young train enthusiast was disappointed. "It'll be on again next Sunday at seven-thirty in the morning," said Taiki.

"How come you didn't get up early to watch it?" Kiichi asked.

"I like to sleep in on weekends and I have a DVR," answered Taiki.

Yuu leaned against the brunet. "Plus I was there."

"Plus you were there."

"You guys have such an amazing relationship," said Kiichi.

"Only because I have such an amazing boyfriend," said Taiki.

Yuu smacked his boyfriend's chest with the back of his hand. "Shut up!"

"Hey, it's true."

"I'm honestly pretty jealous of you guys," said Kiichi, "So Taiki, do you know where I can watch the past episodes of this show?"

"Yeah. I can give you the site later," said Taiki.

"Awesome! I can't wait to get started!" Kiichi put his bowl in the sink and went to get changed. Taiki returned his attention back to the TV as he started up that morning's episode of Kamen Rider.

* * *

><p>Hey! It's been a while! Really short, but these ARE called <em>shorts<em>.

My boyfriend and I believe that Taiki is a huge fan of tokusatsu due to the presence of Kamen Rider and Super Sentai posters in his room (as seen in Hunters episode 9). And since _Ressha Sentai ToQger_ is train-themed, we conceived this idea a while back.


End file.
